Passport Police Verification Trouble? Here's What to Do

One of my clients recently had a case which I am explaining below and if you are stuck in such similar situation, here is what to do.

Note: Due to attorney-client privilege, I cannot disclose complete case details or identify the actual parties involved. However, I am sharing the essential facts and legal approach so that if you find yourself in a similar situation, you can understand the available solutions and legal remedies.

TL;DR: Passport police verification is a background check on identity, residence and antecedents. It is not a trial and it is not a criminal record search alone. If the local station marks your report adverse, demands money, or routes your file to the wrong station, you can escalate to the Superintendent of Police and to the Regional Passport Officer, and if that fails, move the High Court under Article 226.

Aniket Joshi waited two months for his Aadhaar address to be corrected, another month for the passport appointment, and a week for someone from the local police station to call. Nobody called. So he walked in himself, and the first thing he heard was a question about why he had taken so long to turn up.

The constable handed him a form. Two witnesses, each with Aadhaar, PAN and voter ID. He filled it, submitted it, and was then told his street did not fall under that station at all. Six hundred metres away, apparently. The file was transferred to a station roughly two kilometres in the other direction, and the remark on the transfer read simply "Transfer".

At the second station the tone changed. The officer asked why a transfer note said he was not residing at the address, made a remark about his handwriting, and brought up the fact that he had studied engineering. Aniket paid ₹1,000. The verification was done. His voter ID, a third-party print without a hologram, was photographed and sent up.

He has no idea whether that will matter at the SP office or at the RPO. He approached the Chamber of Advocate Sudhir Rao with that question, and the Chamber's experience in these matters helped place the file on the correct procedural track.

Key Facts of the Case

• Aniket applied for a fresh passport and was required to complete police verification at his local police station.
• The first station claimed his street fell outside its territorial limits and transferred the file to a station about two kilometres away; the nearest station was only about 600 metres from his home.
• The transfer remark recorded by the first station read only "Transfer", but the second station read it as an allegation that he did not reside at the given address.
• The verification form required two witnesses with Aadhaar, PAN and voter ID details.
• He paid ₹1,000 in cash at the second station, after which the verification was completed.
• The officer photographed a voter ID that was a third-party print without the hologram sticker.
• His question was whether the SP office would reject the report over the missing hologram, or simply verify antecedents and forward it to the RPO.

The Direct Legal Answer

Does passport police verification check only your criminal record?

No. The report covers identity, current residence and antecedents. The officer is expected to confirm you actually live at the stated address, that the documents match the person, and that there is nothing adverse on record. Antecedents are one component, not the whole exercise.

Can the SP office reject the report because the voter ID has no hologram?

The police report is a verification, not the final decision. The Regional Passport Officer decides on the passport under the Passports Act, 1967. A printout is a supporting document. If the authority is not satisfied, the usual course is a letter asking for a fresh or digitally verifiable document, not an automatic refusal. Downloading the e-EPIC from the Election Commission portal generally settles this, since it carries a digital signature.

Will the "Transfer" remark hurt the application?

Transferring a file for territorial jurisdiction is routine. The defect here is that the reason recorded was read as something else. A short written representation to the SP office and the RPO, with rent agreement, electricity bill and Aadhaar showing the same address, is the usual way to correct the record.

What about the ₹1,000 paid?

Paying does not clean the file up. Demanding or accepting money is an offence by the public servant under the Prevention of Corruption Act,

Practically, a complaint goes to the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the state or through the Central Vigilance Commission's grievance channels, and it should name the date, the place, the amount and the person who took it. The weak point is proof. Aniket's account has him paying in cash and nothing in his version of events shows a receipt was asked for or given. Without a receipt, a recording, or a witness willing to speak, a corruption complaint often stalls at the stage of preliminary enquiry. That is not a reason to stay silent; it is a reason to be realistic about what a complaint can achieve.

Who do you complain to when passport police verification goes wrong?

There are four doors, and they open in a rough order. Most files never need the last one.

1. The Superintendent of Police of the district

The SP is the supervisory officer over all stations in the district, including the one that transferred the file and the one that verified it. The complaint does not need legal drafting. It needs the file number, the date of application, the two station names, and one line saying what is wrong with the report. Ask specifically for the verification to be redone by the station that actually has territorial jurisdiction over the address. A written acknowledgement stamp on your copy matters more than the content of the letter.

2. The Regional Passport Officer

The RPO is the authority that decides your application under the Passports Act, 1967. The police report is an input, not a verdict. If the report is marked adverse, or if the RPO is not satisfied about a document, the usual course is a show-cause notice or a letter asking you to appear in person with originals. That notice is your chance. Carry the original Aadhaar, the rent agreement or electricity bill, and the e-EPIC downloaded from the Election Commission portal if the hologram is the issue.

If the RPO refuses, the Passports Act provides a statutory appeal to the Central Government. The window is short — generally counted in weeks, not months — so the refusal letter's date is the date that matters.

3. The grievance system

CPGRAMS and the grievance route on the Passport Seva portal both create a tracked complaint with a reference number. It is slower than walking into the SP office, but it leaves a record. Use it in parallel, not instead.

4. The High Court under Article 226

Where the report is adverse on facts that are demonstrably false, or where the authority sits on a file for months without giving reasons, a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution is available. Courts do entertain these. They also expect you to show that you exhausted the SP and the RPO first. Going straight to the High Court with a grievance letter you never sent is the fastest way to get the petition dismissed with costs.

What to keep ready before you escalate

• The acknowledgement slip from the Passport Seva Kendra, with the file or ARN number.
• Copies of every document you submitted, including the form the station handed you.
• Proof of residence that matches the address on the application — rent agreement, electricity bill, Aadhaar, bank statement. All four showing the same address is stronger than any one of them.
• A one-page timeline: date of application, date of first station visit, date of transfer, date of second visit.
• The names or designations of the officers you dealt with, even if you only have a designation and a room number.
• Any receipt, SMS or portal update showing the current status.

How long does this take?

Verification reports are expected back from the district police within roughly three weeks, but that is a norm and not a guarantee, and it varies by state and by how the file moves between stations. An SP-level complaint usually gets a response in two to four weeks. A writ petition is measured in months. If you are travelling, apply early enough that a rerun of verification does not cost you the trip.

Frequently Asked Questions

What to send the Chamber

If your verification has been marked adverse, or the file has sat unmoved for weeks, write in with the order or notice you received, its date, the ARN or file number, and a two-line note on where the file currently is. Originals are not needed at the first stage — legible photographs or scans are enough to say whether there is anything to argue. On some of these files, where the report is adverse for reasons the record actually supports, there may be nothing to argue, and you will be told that plainly.

You can reach the chamber through /contact-us or /book. Phone +91 97295 06771, email me@sudhirrao.com.

This article is general information about Indian law and is not legal advice on your own situation. Passport and police verification practice varies by state and by district.

Advocate Sudhir Rao, Supreme Court of India

Facing a similar matter? Speak to a criminal advocate in Delhi — Advocate Sudhir Rao appears in bail, trial and appellate matters before the Delhi District Courts, the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India.