Inter-faith couple passport row: Officer at Lucknow Passport office transferred

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The passport officer at the Lucknow Passport Office at Ratan Square, who was accused of allegedly 'misbehaving with an inter-faith couple' has been transferred.

As per a report in The Mumbai Mirror, few days ago, Tanvi Seth and Mohammad Anas Siddiqui, married for 11 years, had claimed that they were humiliated by the passport officer Vikas Mishra. They alleged that Vikas asked the husband to convert to Hinduism and insulted Tanvi by asking her why she had married a Muslim.

The couple tweeted about their experience to the External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, seeking action. The Regional Passport Office (RPO) immediately got into action and issued a show cause notice to Vikas Mishra, while expressing regret over the incident and assuring the couple that such an act would not be repeated.

Mishra, the official who has been blamed of allegedly harassing the couple, said that he is a secular person, and had clearly told Tanvi Seth that her 'nikahnama' had her name as Shazia Anas, hence that has to be used in her file.

The couple got their passports issued, and while showing their passports to the press, Seth said: "We hope it doesn't happen to anyone else. In our 11 years of marriage, we never faced this. The officials apologised and we got our passports."