NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s estranged wife Jashodaben Modi’s has been denied a passport, after the regional passport office in Gujarat, rejected her application as “incomplete.”
The regional passport officer ZA Khan told a national daily that the application was incomplete and therefore it was not accepted.
“We have not accepted the application because there was no marriage certificate or a joint affidavit with the spouse,” Khan said, adding, “marriage certificate or a joint affidavit is a required document to get the passport.”
The current passport rules require that those applying for a fresh passport, after marriage, need to submit documentary proof of their union.
Mrs. Modi had sought a passport to go abroad and meet their “family friends and relatives.”
“We have many family friends abroad and they asked her to visit them so she had applied for the passport but the application has been turned down,” her brother Ashok Modi said.
He added that she may have to explore “legal options” to get the passport, which is a right of every citizen of the country.
Jashodaben’s marital status has often been a matter of controversy. She had applied under the Right to Information (RTI) seeking details of her security and order of the government of India to provide her security. Mehsana Superintendent of Police (SP) had refused to give the information saying the matter pertained to the security which is not disclosed under the RTI.
In his election affidavit filed in 2014 during the parliamentary polls, Narendra Modi had mentioned Jashodaben’s name as his spouse.
After he became the Prime Minister following a landslide victory in the national polls, Jashodaben was given security cover with four police constables posted her residence.
She is a retired school teacher and lives with her brother Ashok Modi in a village in North Gujarat. (Agencies)
