CBI Files Case against two couples after France Embassy detects fraud

• The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) files a case against two couples for passport fraud uncovered by the French visa service
• The fraud involves two different passports with identical biometric data, issued in the names of Gursharandeep Singh and Sarvjit Singh Notay
• The couples conspired to obtain a second passport for Gursharandeep Singh using a fake birth certificate and false information

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a case against two couples under the Passport Act after the French visa service uncovered alleged passport fraud.

According to the First Information Report filed in the case, the fraud involving two different passports - Passport No. U2488935 issued by the Regional Passport Office, Jalandhar and Passport No. V5517012 issued by the Regional Passport Office, Delhi - was detected at the French Visa Service in New Delhi. The passports were issued in the names of Gursharandeep Singh, son of Simal Singh, and Sarvjit Singh Notay, son of Kirpal Singh Notay. Biometric data in both passports are identical.

Further evidence revealed that Simal Singh and his wife Manjit Kaur, residents of Jalandhar, Punjab, were issued Passport No. U2486935 for their minor son Gursharandeep Singh from RPO, Jalandhar in 2020 which was valid till November 2023.

Moreover, it emerged that Simal Singh and his wife Manjit Kuar conspired with Kirpal Singh Notay and his wife Suresh Kumari Notay, both residents of Tilak Nagar, Delhi, to get another passport for their son.

They produced a fake or forged birth certificate for Sarvjit Singh Notay, purportedly issued on 28 January 2010 by the Faridabad Municipal Corporation, falsely claiming that he is the child of Kirpal Singh Notay and Suresh Kumari Notay.

In furtherance of the above criminal conspiracy, Kirpal Singh Notay submitted an application dated 13 January 2022 to the Regional Passport Office, New Delhi for issuance of a passport in the name of Sarvjit Singh Notay, attaching the photograph of Gursharandeep Singh to the application. Gursharandeep Singh also added the signature "Sarvjit Singh" to the app.

In support of the information contained in the above application, Kirpal Singh Notay and his wife Suresh Kumari Notay have attached an affidavit, a fake birth certificate and a photocopy of their passports. Subsequently, RPO, New Delhi granted Sarvjit Singh Notay a passport number V5517012.

Evidence also revealed that Gursharandeep Singh initially tried to apply for a visa at the Spanish Embassy in New Delhi using a forged passport number V5517012 issued in the name of Sarvjit Singh Notay, but the application was rejected by the embassy in March 2022. 

In May 2022, he again tried to apply for a visa at the Spanish embassy with passport number V5517012, but this time he was also rejected by the Spanish embassy. Gursharandeep Singh then tried to apply for a visa at the French Embassy using passport U2486935. He tried to get a visa using a fake passport number V5517012, but was rejected by the French embassy in December 2022 because his fingerprints matched those taken by the Spanish embassy.

"After the French embassy detected the fraud and informed the agency, a case was registered against both the couples under sections of the Indian Penal Code for fraud, forgery and under the Passport Act," said a senior official.