Ministry of External Affairs, on 30 January, withdrew its earlier decision to issue orange-coloured passport to people holding passports with ECR (Emigration Check Required) status.
Have decided to continue with the current practice of printing of the last page of the passport and not to issue a separate passport with orange colour jacket to ECR passport holders.MEA
This comes after Kerala High Court on Monday, 29 January, issued a notice to the central government on a PIL challenging its decision. Lawyer Shamsuddeen Karunagappally argued that such a move would lead to segregation of people with low education and low economic status.
According to the earlier statement issued by the MEA, the passport holders with ECR (Emigration Check Required) status would have been issued a passport with orange-coloured jacket and those with non-ECR status would have continued to get a blue passport.
Emigration check is required for passport holders, not having education beyond the tenth standard, and having less than taxable income, who seek migration for employment, the petitioner had said.
The petitioner contended that the move would make their underprivileged status known publicly through a separate colour code. It is a grave invasion of their fundamental right to privacy and dignity, he said.
There is no rational objective to be achieved through this segregation. It is demeaning and shockingly violative of the principle of equality, the petitioner said.
The move will create practical hardships for migrant workers, as the chances of harassment and exploitation will increase when their vulnerable status is made apparent on the passport through separate colour code, he alleged.
The petitioner was also aggrieved by the government's decision to omit last page of the passport containing details including the holder's address.
According to the prior MEA statement, the recommendations of a three-member panel, comprising officials from the MEA and the ministry of women and child development, were accepted and it was decided that the last page of the passport and other travel documents issued under the Passports Act, 1967 and Passport Rules, 1980 "would no longer be printed".
The move is not supported by any cogent reason and does not achieve any purpose, the petition alleged.
The decisions affect a large class of Indians who have migrated to other countries in search of job and livelihood, it said.
After preliminary hearing, a division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Antony Dominic and Justice Dama Seshadri Naidu issued the notice to the Union government.
(With inputs from PTI)
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