Illegal blue passport issuance: Panel urges action against officers

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary body on Monday urged the government to take action against officers during whose tenure blue passports were issued to unentitled individuals.

The Senate Standing Committee, which met with Senator Faisal Saleem Rehman in the chair, said that requiring incumbent and former parliamentarians to obtain and submit a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Ministry of Interior for the issuance of blue passports to their family members amounted to creating unnecessary hurdles.

Senator Dilawar Khan said that the officers during whose tenure blue passports were issued to unentitled people, as well as passports issued to Afghan nationals, should be held accountable.

Senator Saifullah Abro said that the committee should be informed about the people who were found involved in misusing their passports.

State Minister for Interior Talal Chaudhry said that the visa case had been pending at embassies for the last nine months. The rules of existing laws related to the issuance of passports had grey areas, he said, adding that he is ready to present data regarding the issuance of passports over the last two and a half years before the committee. None of the entitled persons’ passports had been withheld, he said.

Chaudhry and Senator Abro exchanged harsh words during the meeting over the issuance of passports.

The committee chairman said that the parliamentary body should be informed of how many blue passports have been issued to parliamentarians. “Tomorrow we will retire if we get NOC from the Ministry of Interior for issuance of passports”, he said.

He said that if the government did not want to issue blue passports to parliamentarians and their family members, then amend the relevant law. “Present a law that blue passports would not be issued to parliamentarians and their family members,” he said.

The state minister said that blue passports had been issued on a large scale in the country in the past. Pakistan’s name has been defamed over the blue passport, he said, adding that the government has reduced the number of blue passports.

“We are not stopping anyone from getting a passport,” Chaudhry said, adding that a complaint regarding the passport of former federal minister Abid Sher Ali’s wife had also been resolved and the passport had been issued.

The committee directed the Directorate General of Immigration and Passport to submit complete details to the committee about the number of blue passports issued to parliamentarians.

Senator Safiullah Abro also presented the report of the sub-committee, and Abro briefed on major concerns regarding tax evasion involving imported material destined for tax-exempt areas. It was informed that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had failed to produce consumption certificates for all such imported material.

The committee was further informed that a media campaign had been launched against the committee and that misleading information regarding tobacco-related tax evasion had allegedly been presented to the Prime Minister. Members also expressed concerns over alleged connivance of certain FBR officials with fake factories to facilitate tax evasion through tax-exempt imports.

Senator Saifullah Abro said that the issue of tax exemption mechanisms in erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) regions involved nearly Rs 1,120 billion. The FBR had failed to satisfy the sub-committee and had not provided data regarding the relevant companies, he said.

Abro further said that an investigation into alleged cigarette tax evasion initially involving claims of Rs1000 billion found the actual amount to be Rs 40 billion. Taking serious note of the matter, the committee Chairman asked the Minister of State for Interior to convey the committee’s observations to the Prime Minister.

The committee unanimously passed the Islamabad Consumers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2026, after detailed discussion moved by Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehr and issued directives that the bill be processed further along with the observations of the Ministry of Law and Justice.

The committee also unanimously passed the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, relating to the insertion of new Section 338CA in the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and corresponding amendment to Schedule II of the Code of Criminal Procedure, also moved by Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri.

The Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) (Amendment) Bill, 2026, moved by Senator Bushra Anjum Butt, was also unanimously passed. Briefing the committee about the bill, the mover said that juvenile suspects accused of rape should not be entitled to bail. She said that in several recent rape cases, the alleged perpetrators were minors, stressing that the proposed legislation would help ensure greater protection and security for children.

The committee chairman asked whether the provinces should be consulted on the proposed legislation. Committee members maintained that there was no need to seek the provinces’ opinion.

Senator Samina Ihsan urged severe punishment for those convicted of rape, saying that rape offenders should be flogged and publicly executed.

The committee further considered the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, proposing insertion of Section 328B in the Pakistan Penal Code and corresponding amendments to Schedule II of the Code of Criminal Procedure, aimed at protecting domestic help workers. The bill was passed after voting, while the Ministry of Law and Justice was directed to submit a comparative statement of the existing law and proposed amendments at the next meeting.

The committee also considered and passed legislation seeking amendments to Section 286 and insertion of new Section 286A in the Pakistan Penal Code, along with corresponding amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure, to criminalise the unauthorized transfer of LPG into smaller cylinders and reduce the resulting public safety risks.

The Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, relating to amendment of Section 336B of the Pakistan Penal Code and corresponding amendments to Schedule II of the Code of Criminal Procedure, aimed at strengthening legislation against acid crimes, was also unanimously passed. The committee noted that the government had supported the proposed legislation.

Senator Shahadat Awan, Senator Naseema Ehsan, Senator Saifullah Abro, Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri, Senator Umer Farooq, Senator Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan, Senator Jam Saifullah Khan, Senator Muhammad Talha Mahmood and Senator Dilawar Khan and senior officials also attended the meeting.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026