Thane man gets no relief in passport goof up case

A local resident, who was "deported" from Bangkok while on a family vacation in 2007 due to an alleged goof-up by passport authorities, failed to get relief from Thane Consumer Forum which disposed of his complaint on the ground that the matter involves recording of evidences and submission of proofs.
In its recent order the forum chaired by President Sneha Mhatre and members N D Kadam and Madhuri Vishwarupe observed that the matter cannot be decided summarily as it involved recording of evidences and directed complainant Ashish Vaidya to approach appropriate court with his case.
In his complaint Vaidya, a resident of Thane had filed the case against the Ministry of External Affairs through the Thane Passport Superintendent for "sufferings" caused during the Bangkok tour, which he could not complete due to the alleged goof up of the passport office.

Vaidya contended that he was issued a passport for a period starting from January 13, 1998 till January 12, 2018. When he along with his family undertook a trip to Bangkok on October 22, 2007 during the immigration check it was noticed that there was an overwriting on the passport in the expiry date section. The date printed was 2008 and over it was written as 2018.
The figure '1' was manually written in place of '0' in the passport. The immigration officials sought an explanation from Vaidya and only after they got it in writing from him that he had not written the same, allowed him to undertake the trip, says the complaint filed by Vaidya.

However, at the Bangkok airport immigration officials verified online details of the passport and it was revealed that the expiry date was 2008 and not 2018.

"The passport office rectified the expiry date by manually changing it from 2008 to 2018, but failed to make the necessary changes in their system," pointed out Vaidya's complaint.
The complainant later sent a legal notice to the Passport
Office and when it was not answered filed the case.
The defendants contested the claim on the ground that the complaint was time barred as it was to be filed within two years from the date of the cause of action that is October 24, 2009 but was instead filed on December 3, 2009.

They further argued that the complainant did not fall under the definition of 'Consumer' under the Consumer Protection Act.
The complainant argued that he had filed the complaint for deficiency in services by the passport office due to overwriting and sufferings he had to undergo during the trip.
The forum noted that the complaint involves several issues like proof of the claims, allegations and documentary evidence which will be possible only after recording of evidences.
It cannot be decided summarily and is being disposed of without any decision, observed the members.