The Supreme Court will decide on Monday whether passport and visa services at Indian missions in Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Singapore, and Canberra continue as they are-after the Centre told a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant that a Delhi High Court order had left those services “almost dysfunctional.” The High Court on July 15 cancelled the contract awarded to Kerala-based Alhind Tours & Travels to run consular, passport and visa (CPV) services at the four missions, holding that the government scored the competing bids arbitrarily and never explained why despite MEA’s objections that it’s not a mere technical evaluation but has strong national security implications that have to be additionally borne in mind.
The Delhi HC ordered fresh tenders within a month. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the , told the bench of CJI Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana on Friday that no new operator can start functioning overnight and got the appeal listed for July 20.
SC Lists Matter For Hearing On Monday (July 20)
The on Friday agreed to hear the Centre’s plea against the Delhi High Court verdict. Mehta urged the bench headed by CJI Surya Kant that the High Court’s decision had made rendering of visas and other services at these four places difficult. While setting aside the tender awarded to private firms for outsourcing CPV services, the high court had directed the Centre to issue a fresh Request for Proposals (RFP), inviting fresh bids.
If you have an appointment, don’t cancel on rumour. Keep your acknowledgement receipt. Check the mission’s own website rather than any operator’s social media.
Trauma To Millions After Sudden Cancellation Of CPV Services
For the roughly 4.5 million Indians in the UAE alone, plus applicants in Kuwait, Singapore, and Australia, the issue is much larger. It’s mental trauma and agony of being cut off from the national umbilical cord without being explained or given time to prepare mentally or given alternatives. It also has an element of national prestige, as the outside world sees such sudden disruptions as a sign of a dysfunctional system.
A former senior CPV official who declined to be named due to the matter being sub judice at the highest level told Times Now Digital, “Look around you, no country that takes its passport seriously takes these matters lightly. These matters have an ingrained element of national security, they cannot be decided merely on the basis of tendering. The Ministry of External Affairs’s systems have evolved over the years under many dispensations. Nobody should be against transparency, but you will have to allow the principal stakeholder leeway to address the non-negotiable construct.”
“By this yardstick the RBI will have to lay bare the features of a currency note for legal adjudication,” the official rued.
The suspension has affected Indian citizens requiring passport renewals, OCI card services, and other consular assistance. While eligible travellers can still use India’s e-Visa facility in some cases, it does not cover every visa category or substitute for passport and OCI-related services.
What is critical, however, for millions of Indians abroad is that they are informed well in advance of any impending changes that the administrations are planning so that they can plan crucial dates accordingly and systems are kept above the bickering of the technical tendering processes so as to not let them down in front of the global community.