In a significant development in the Moga passport scam, the court of the additional district and sessions judge on Monday provided partial relief to the appellants, acquitting several travel agents who were previously convicted, while upholding the conviction of the police officials involved in the fraudulent issuance of passports.
The scam, which first surfaced in 2008 following a whistleblowing report by a police official, involved the fraudulent issuance of over 400 passports based on forged documents and falsified police verification reports. In 2018, a magisterial court had convicted 25 individuals—including travel agents, passport applicants, and three head constables—sentencing them to three years of imprisonment.
The court cited lack of sufficient evidence to prove direct conspiracy in the appeals filed by those earlier convicted by the lower court.
However, the court maintained that as public servants, the officers had failed in their duty by providing clear verification reports for individuals with criminal backgrounds or non-existent addresses.
While the travel agents argued that they were merely processing paperwork provided by clients, the prosecution’s case against the police officers remained strong.
“The integrity of the passport issuance process rests on the honesty of the ground-level police verification. While the agents have been given the benefit of the doubt in this appeal, the culpability of the officials remains established,” a legal expert familiar with the case said, requesting anonymity.
The acquitted travel agents are expected to seek the release of their seized documents, while the convicted police officials have the option to challenge this order in the Punjab and Haryana high court.
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