Lok Sabha Question No. 1556 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-10
Subject: Seizure of Passports
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: E. T. Mohammed Basheer

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-1556 ANSWERED ON- 10/02/2023

## SEIZURE OF PASSPORTS

## 1556. SHRI E.T. MOHAMMED BASHEER

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state :-

(a) whether the Government has noticed that a large number of Passports are seized by emigration department for travelling via Yemen and other banned Countries;

(b) if so, the number of passports seized State wise; and

(c) the steps taken by the Government to penalise and return the passport since most of the people working abroad belong to poor/weaker section of the society?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

## (V. MURALEEDHARAN)

(a) There have been cases of seizure of passports of Indian nationals who have travelled to Yemen over the past few years in contravention of the travel ban to Yemen imposed by the Government of India vide Gazette Notification No. S.O. 3223(E) dated 26th September, 2017.

(b & c) 372 passports have been seized and received in Passport Offices across India out of which 102 have been released. However, seizure/release of passports is a continuous process and data keeps changing. State wise details are as under:-

| State-wise data   | State-wise data   | State-wise data         | State-wise data          |
|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------------|--------------------------|
| S. No.            | Name of State     | No. of Passports seized | No of Passports released |
| 1.                | Andhra Pradesh    | 02                      | 01                       |
| 2.                | Bihar             | 19                      | 01                       |
| 3.                | Chattisgarh       | 01                      | 0                        |
| 4.                | Goa               | 01                      | 01                       |
| 5.                | Gujarat           | 08                      | 03                       |
| 6.                | Karnataka         | 23                      | 05                       |
| 7.                | Kerala            | 241                     | 80                       |
| 8.                | Maharashtra       | 14                      | 01                       |
| 9.                | Odisha            | 1                       | 0                        |
| 10.               | Rajasthan         | 4                       | 0                        |
| 11.               | Tamil Naidu       | 40                      | 08                       |
| 12.               | Telangana         | 2                       | 1                        |
| 13.               | Uttar Pradesh     | 06                      | 01                       |
| 14.               | West Bengal       | 10                      | 0                        |

As per Gazette Notification No. S.O. 3223(E)  dated 26th September, 2017, the  seized passports are liable to be impounded or revoked under Section 10(3) of the Passports Act, 1967 and the holder of the Passport is liable to be refused a passport under section 6 of the said Act for a period of seven years from the date of revocation of such passport.

A provision to permit Indian nationals to visit Yemen for specific and essential reasons has also been made wherein prior approval of Ministry of External Affairs is required to be taken.

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