Saurabh Malik
Chandigarh, November 10
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has asserted that the country suffered following the unethical conduct of a visitor to Canada as he did not straightaway apply for a visa through a legal channel. The Bench also asserted that an unscrupulous travel agent and his associates brought massive disgrace to the country and the people of Indian origin on the detection of fraud by a visa officer at the Vancouver International Airport.
Didn’t apply for visa via legal channel
The complainant would have suffered a few million. Still, the country suffered the most because of the unethical conduct of the complainant by not straightaway applying for a visa through a legal channel. — Justice Anoop Chitkara
The visitor, on whose complaint an FIR was registered, was detained and deported to India after he landed at Vancouver. Inquiry revealed that he was shown to be married, though he was a single. “The complainant would have suffered a few million; still, the country suffered the most because of the unethical conduct of the complainant by not straightaway applying for a visa through a legal channelhellip;,” Justice Anoop Chitkara asserted.
The matter was brought to Justice Chitkara’s notice after a woman filed anticipatory bail plea, apprehending arrest in an FIR registered for cheating, forgery and other offences under Sections 420, 465, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC in March 2020, at Navi Baradari police station in Jalandhar.
Justice Chitkara observed the complainant’s case was that the petitioner-woman and her husband were known to him and had got him a visa to the US for Rs 3.5 lakh. He decided to visit Canada and contacted them for a visa.
After some months, he did get the visa for Canada but was sent back on April 13, 2019, upon arrival at Vancouver airport. The allegation was that the accused showed him married by fabricating his documents and forging affidavits. The investigation, however, revealed that the woman and her husband had not received any money from the complainant. As a friendly gesture, they contacted a girl working with the visa company at Jalandhar. By showing him married, the chances of getting visa permission increased.
The forgery came to the notice at the airport, where the complainant during the visa interview at the time of immigration disclosed his status as unmarried, whereas his personal information bank showed him to be married. Since the travel agents had not disclosed this fact to the complainant, he was unaware and told the truth, leading to a false declaration for getting visa and consequent deportation.
Confirming then interim anticipatory bail earlier granted to the accused, Justice Chitkara observed there was “eerie silence” in the complaint about the money the complainant paid to a visa company and others.
There was no justification in sending the petitioner to pre-trial incarceration.
