R. Rajagopal Gets His Passport, But Wants the Government to Clarify

Former Telegraph Editor R. Rajagopal has finally received his renewed passport, months after his ordeal began. His name was deleted from West Bengal's electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, and that deletion was subsequently cited as the reason for holding up his passport renewal. Rajagopal had first spoken to The Probe about his case in June, describing how a routine renewal turned into a nearly hundred-day battle involving the police, the Passport Office and the Security Control Organisation.

Also Read:  Passport Renewal Nightmare: Former Telegraph Editor Narrates Ordeal

Will The Government Finally Clarify If SIR Data Can Be Used To Deny A Passport?

The Probe spoke to Rajagopal after he received his passport. He said that as far as he is concerned, nothing has really changed. His fight, he said, was never about his passport alone.

“As far as I am concerned nothing has changed. I didn't speak for my passport alone. I wanted the clarification from somebody in authority to tell us whether SIR data can be used to deny passport to a citizen. Neither the MEA, MHA or the West Bengal government has still clarified this. Until this is clarified by the government, this confusion will continue to persist,” Rajagopal told The Probe.

Rajagopal's passport had expired in October 2025. When he applied for renewal in February 2026, his file was quietly diverted to the Security Control Organisation, which functions under the Kolkata Police Special Branch, instead of being processed routinely. On 17 June, the Regional Passport Office officially informed him that the police had submitted an adverse verification report, citing his deletion from the electoral rolls as the reason. He was then given an appointment to appear before the Passport Office on 17 July. In the months in between, Rajagopal spent his days tracking down decades-old records of his parents from Kerala, trying to establish an identity he had never once been asked to prove in over three decades as one of India's best-known editors.

Also Read:  Exclusive: Government's Own Documents Call Passport Citizenship Proof

Rajagopal said the logic of how his case was eventually resolved raises more questions than it answers, and that he does not see this as a moment to celebrate.

“I recently read that another 17 people are affected like this. The actual numbers could be higher. If the police can use SIR data arbitrarily, it is a dangerous situation for people. The government could have issued a standalone statement to clear the air on whether SIR data can be used to deny passports to people, but that has still not happened. After my case came to light, no one in the government contacted me, except one passport official who called me three days ago and told me to send an email to the Regional Passport Office seeking re-verification. I sent the email. But the point to be noted is that I was not asked to submit any document or go anywhere — nothing. What does this show? It shows that the documents I had already submitted were enough for them to issue my passport. But if those documents were enough, then why did they deny me the passport in the first place? Obviously, it looks like they acted under pressure from the media, the Editors Guild of India, the Press Club of India and others who took up my matter. But what about those whose matters were not taken up by anyone? They deserve relief too. That is why I don't feel jubilant about getting my passport alone,” Rajagopal said.

Rajagopal received his renewed passport via speed post on 4 July. The resolution comes after sustained media coverage of his case, along with the intervention of the Editors Guild of India and the Press Club of India, who took up the matter with the authorities. Rajagopal had also written to the Kolkata Police Commissioner and approached the National Human Rights Commission during the course of his ordeal, neither of which yielded a substantive response at the time. His case before the SIR appellate tribunal, concerning the original deletion of his and his late father's names from the electoral rolls, remains pending.

Rajagopal said his thoughts now turn to others caught in the same uncertainty, particularly author and journalist Samrat Choudhury, whose case The Probe reported on separately.

“I really wish and hope that Samrat Choudhury gets his passport too. Samrat's case is more worrisome — even after he submitted all his documents, when they told him his citizenship was denied, they didn't give him a reason why. I want all the people who have faced this problem to get relief from the government,” Rajagopal said.

The Probe had earlier reported on Samrat Choudhury's case, a writer and former editor who has held an Indian passport since 1993. On 24 June, Passport Seva Divas, Choudhury's passport was impounded by the Regional Passport Office in Kolkata after an adverse police report stated that his citizenship was "not established" — a finding that came with no explanation on file. Choudhury was born before 1987 and is a citizen by birth under Indian law, meaning he is not legally required to prove descent from Indian parents. He was nonetheless asked to produce his parents' passports, his Aadhaar card, his voter ID, his Class 10 certificate and other documents. His case remains unresolved.

Also Read:  Indian by Birth, Passport Gone, Citizenship in Doubt: Samrat Choudhury

Inside The Passport Office: What Rajagopal Says He Witnessed

In his conversation with The Probe, Samrat Choudhury had described the Regional Passport Office in Kolkata as a Kafkaesque space where he saw people sitting on the floor, crying, overwhelmed by the process. Rajagopal told The Probe that this account matches exactly what he saw himself when he visited the same office.

“At the regional passport office in Kolkata, when I went there, I saw a lot of people crying. I could see that these were marginalised people, and many of them could barely breathe. One gentleman thought I was some sort of officer and approached me as I was leaving the passport office. He pleaded with me, saying, 'Sir, please help me, help me, help me. My job will be in jeopardy.' He was a Bengali who works abroad. I felt so helpless. So many people are facing the same problem. That is why, even today, when I get my passport, I am not happy about it," Rajagopal said.