DOHA: The Indian Cultural and Arts Society (Incas), a leading Indian expatriate organisation in Qatar has filed a petition in the Kerala High Court challenging the recent decision of the Indian government imposing a major hike in the charges for issuing a passport for Indians residing abroad.
The unilateral decision has come as a major blow to the large number of low-income Indian workers in the Gulf countries, Incas said in a statement yesterday.
The new fees structure came into force on October 1.
To issue an ordinary fresh passport or re-issue of a passport containing 36 pages, the earlier fee of Rs.1,000 has been raised to Rs.1,500 in India, while the same been raised from $40 to $75 (¤60) for passports issued overseas, said the petition.
While an Indian applying for an ordinary fresh passport need to pay only Rs500 more now, an Indian working abroad has to pay almost double the amount now fixed in terms of dollars and euros. A dollar now costs about Rs55 and a Euro Rs71.
This means that while there is a nominal increase of Rs500 or Rs400 in the case of an Indian staying in India, there is an increase of almost 200 percent for Indians staying abroad, it added.
“Thus a patent discrimination is practised among Indian citizens classifying them as citizens staying in India and citizens staying and working abroad,” said the petition.
Incas has filed the writ petition through the law firm of prominent lawyer K Ram Kumar.
The Kerala High Court has accepted the petition and ordered the Indian government to file their reply at the earliest.
The Peninsula
