Dual passport holders to get amnesty again: interior ministry

ISLAMABAD: Federal Ministry of Interior has announced amnesty for dual passport holders who got the passports issued on dual national identity cards, ARY News reported on Thursday.

The holders of multiple passports will get yet another chance to get their additional passports cancelled to avoid a jail term under the law.

Informed sources at the interior ministry told the ARY News, that 38,000 Pakistani citizens have got issued two NICs with forgery and two citizen numbers were issued on these identity cards thus two passports issued.

“All 38,000 people holding these passports have been blacklisted,” ministry sources said. “The law recommends three years jail sentence for these identity card and passport holders,” sources said.

Section 6 (1) (j) of the Passports Act reads: “A person shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both, if he: obtains more than one passport for himself either in the same or different names by concealing the fact of his already being in possession of a passport.”

The interior ministry has announced amnesty for those having two passports, sources said. “Under this amnesty scheme a passport and national identity card will be cancelled without any punishment,’ according to sources.

“Those who fail to get benefit of this amnesty scheme will be sentenced to jail,” sources said.

However, those having criminal record could not get benefit of the amnesty, sources added.