HC summons 3 senior govt officials to appear before it in pan card case

Irked by the Central government officials’ inaction despite the court order in a matter where a foreign national had not only obtained a PAN card by pretending to be an Indian but also opened two bank accounts, the Bombay high court on Tuesday summoned three senior Central government officials to appear before it on January 8 to show what action had been taken so far.

The division bench headed by Justice Abhay S. Oka issued summons to these officers while hearing a petition filed by Sanjay Punmiya alleging that Faisal Essa Yosuf obtained a PAN card in his name and bank accounts were opened by him.

The judges observed that the petitioner had done his job by pointing out the alleged illegality committed by the first respondent and the petitioner is not expected to know the details of the departments that are obliged to look into the illegality. “It is the responsibility of the law department of the Union of India to ascertain which departments can look into the allegations made by the petitioner and initiate appropriate legal action, if necessary,” observed the bench.

“This petition shows shocking inaction on the part of relevant departments of the Union of India... What is pointed out by this petition is that the first respondent, who is a foreign national, has obtained a PAN card. Furthermore he has opened accounts with two banks, namely HSBC Bank and Bombay Mercantile Bank. He has also acquired properties in India,” the judges noted further.