Thachankary,DGP in trouble for wrong info

Suspended IPS officer Tomin J Thachankary and North Kerala Additional Director General of Police Mahesh Kumar Singla have landed in a controversy with regard to the formers application for a fresh passport.

Suspended IPS officer Tomin J Thachankary and North Kerala Additional Director General of Police Mahesh Kumar Singla have landed in a controversy with regard to the formers application for a fresh passport.

While applying for a new passport at the regional passport office in Kochi earlier this month,Thachankary had not given information pertaining to a pending criminal case against him. Singla,who had been Thachankarys immediate superior before being suspended,gave a no objection certificate,saying Section 6 of the Passport Act,which deals with reasons for refusal,was not applicable in this case.

The NOC was given though

the said section clearly says that application has to be refused if proceedings in respect of an offence alleged to have been committed by the applicant are pending before a criminal court in India,said the sources at the passport office.

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Thachankary is facing prosecution in a torture case. Last week,the Vigilance department had recommended that he should be prosecuted for amassing wealth disproportionate to his known source of income. Besides,the National Investigation Agency is investigating the allegation that he had met terror accused from Kerala during a visit to Qatar.

Sources at the passport office said he had answered in negative relevant questions pertaining to government service and any criminal case pending. When issued a show-cause notice for providing wrong information,he produced the NOC.

But Singla on Monday corrected his stand,saying that the NOC was meant only for allotting additional pages in Thachankerys existing passport. In an official communication to the passport office in Kochi,Singla said the office can neglect his NOC and go by the laid down process. Subsequently,the passport office has referred the matter to the Kochi city police.

Reacting to the development,CM V S Achuthanandan said that action would be taken against Singla.

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Singla,who is close to the Indian Union Muslim League,had faced damning observations from the Judicial Commission which probed the 2002 Hindu carnage in Kozhikode.