Mohali DC cancels licence of immigration consultancy firm

Tribune News Service

Mohali, November 30

On charges of violating provisions under Section 4(1)(d) of the Punjab Travel Professional Regulation Act for Consultancy Services, the Mohali District Magistrate-cum-Deputy Commissioner today cancelled the licence of World Wide Immigration Consultancy Services (WWICS) being run at Phase 6 here.

“Now, the company cannot run its operations,” said Gurpreet Kaur Sapra, Mohali DM-cum-DC, after issuing the order this evening.

She said the company had concealed material facts regarding the registration of the FIR and the members being NRIs, thereby violating the provisions of the said Act at the time of applying for issuing the licence in 2013.

“Therefore, the license (No. 03/MC-2, dated 29.08.2014) granted to the WWICS has been cancelled with immediate effect under Section 6(1)(d) of the aforesaid Act,” said Sapra.

In the order, the DM observed that Anuj Kaushal, authorised representative of the WWICS, had applied for registration under the Punjab Travel Professional Regulation Act for Consultancy Services in this office on October 21, 2013. Following this, the license was issued on the basis of documents produced by the applicant and police verification reports, which did not reveal anything against the applicant and company directors Lt Col Shri Baijit Singh Sandhu (retd) and Davinder Singh Sandhu, both residents Sector 10-A, Chandigarh, at that point of time.

“Later, it came to our notice that a case under Sections 420 and 188 of the IPC and Section 24 of the Immigration Act - 1983 and Sections 177, 192, 199, 203 and 418 of the IPC has been registered against Baljit Bingh Sandhu and Davinder Singh Sandhu at the Sector 17 police station, Chandigarh, on February 1, 2012. It had also come out that both directors were Canadian citizens. Thus, they could not apply for the licence without taking approval from the Reserve Bank of India,” said Sapra, adding that a show-cause notice was issued to them for concealing facts at the time of application.

She said then the company had pleaded that the complaint was false and the SIT had exonerated them and that they had unintentionally omitted the mention of registration of the FIR in their application.

Later, as per the report of the SSP, Chandigarh, both directors had been acquitted on November 11, 2016.

Then after taking a legal opinion, the company was served a show-cause notice for the cancellation of the licence on May 23, 2017. The personal hearing of the company was also held before the Mohali’s Additional District Magistrate on July 26 this year.The company also apprised the authorities of filing a civil writ petition in this connection. On November 27, Anuj Kaushal submitted an application in which it was stated that the hearing on the civil writ petition was now fixed for December 11.