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New Delhi: Several opposition leaders have written letters to the Union and West Bengal governments, and expressed shock over how senior journalist R. Rajagopal – the former editor of The Telegraph – was excluded from the voter list and on the basis of which his passport renewal has been stuck. The matter came to light following Rajagopal’s own detailing of his predicament. 

In a letter to Union external affairs minister S. Jaishankar on Monday (June 29), Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP in Rajya Sabha John Brittas expressed concern over the issue, saying it raises fundamental questions about constitutional due process, statutory coherence and the rule of law.

“The issue arises from the reported denial of renewal of the passport of senior journalist and former Editor of The Telegraph, Shri Rajagopal Ramadas, solely on the basis of his exclusion from the electoral roll during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, notwithstanding that he was issued an Indian passport by the Government of India in 2005, the same was renewed in 2015, and there has been no change whatsoever in his identity, parentage, address or nationality,” he noted in the letter shared on X.

“The communication issued by the Regional Passport Office reportedly records only one adverse circumstance, namely, “Voter list deleted from SIR.” If that indeed constitutes the sole basis for disallowing renewal, the matter deserves urgent reconsideration, not merely because of its consequences for one citizen, but because of the precedent it is likely to establish for passport administration across the country,” Brittas said.

Wrote to @DrSJaishankar seeking urgent intervention in the case of senior journalist and former........

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