Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) has requested the Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry to take suo motu action on the inordinate delays in providing passports to the citizens by the passport office that works under the ministry of interior.

According to the procedure, on payment of ordinary fee the passport should be delivered within 12 to 15 working days and for urgent fee it should be available in five to seven working days, TIP said in its plea filed in the human rights cell of the Supreme Court.However, the passport office, which was declared in National Corruption Perception Survey by TIP as the least corrupt till 2008, has become highly corrupt in last five years, the whistle-blower on corruption said.

The committed passport delivery schedule has been violated sometimes due to load shedding, breakdown of passport making machines, and since last year due to passport paper shortage, TIP said in its plea.TIP said that press reports reveal that the delay of several months in passport delivery is only due to efforts to award the contract to a chosen party without tender.

TIP said the passport office wanted to circumvent the rules laid out by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) and procure passport paper for five years from OpSec New York on unsolicited basis.TIP in its plea said the Supreme Court is requested to take up this case to help the citizens in getting the passport, and direct action against those responsible for the delay and corruption.

Transparency International Pakistan is striving for across the board application of Rule of Law, which is the only way to stop corruption. An indulgence of the Honorable Court in the matter is prayed for, the TIP plea concluded