On June 20, Tanvi Seth, in a series of tweets, informed External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj that she and her husband were allegedly humiliated by Lucknow passport officer Vikas Mishra for being an interfaith couple. Mishra was subsequently transferred and the couple’s passports were issued the next day. What followed was an abusive Twitter campaign targeting EAM Sushma Swaraj. In the midst of the hate spewed on social media, a lot of misinformation was also propagated. Among the ones who circulated false information, Prashant Patel Umaro and Jagrati Shukla came out on top. Lawyer Prashant Patel tweeted on July 3 that EAM Sushma Swaraj launched Passport Seva mobile application on June 27 and changes rules retrospectively to “save Sadia Anas Siddiqui & to hide her mistake.” S. Swaraj launched ‘Passport Sewa’ app on 27 June showing date 5 june by changing rules to save Sadia Anas Siddiqui & to hide her mistake. Fake Data produced showing it’s downloaded 10 Lakh times but actually it was crashed. — Prashant Patel Umrao (@ippatel) July 3, 2018 Patel’s tweet was liked by more than 4,000 people and retweeted 2,700 times. On the occasion of the 6th Passport Seva Divas on June 26, MEA Sushma Swaraj announced that the Passport Seva mobile application is now available for citizens to apply for passports online. Patel claimed that the “rules” would be retrospectively applicable from June 5 onward to benefit Tanvi Seth and her husband. While Patel has not specifically stated which “rule” he thinks is altered, he might be talking about regulations on marriage certificate since the entire controversy hovers around Tanvi’s name in her Nikahnama. Married applicants needed to produce their marriage certificate at the time of applying for passports. However, this was scrapped in 2016. Irrespective of gender, married applicants also no longer need to mention their spouse’s names. Considering that the rules that Prashant Patel was alluding to were already in place since 2016, there can be no question of retrospectively changing them. Furthermore, Alt News scrutinized mPassport Seva’s history on Google Play and found that it was launch on July 11, 2013, suggesting that it was conceived by the previous UPA Government. The most recent update to the app was made on July 3, 2018. Media reports (1 & 2) give June 5 as an earlier date of update. With the Union Government’s increased focus on e-governance, multiple mobile apps have been released by different departments of the Government. Mobile apps expand the reach of e-governance services to individuals and families who cannot afford a computer but do own a phone. In this specific case, the Ministry of External Affairs launched the app in order to make the passport application process smoother and faster, and not to “change” rules. Jagrati Shukla claimed that Tanvi did not apply for a passport on her real name (that reflects in the Nikahnama) and that she produced false information regarding her residence. Tanvi Seth-Anas Siddiqui fraud couple case must be handed over to NIA & investigated for Terrorism angle. Question remains: Why did Sadia Anas apply for passport on her previous Hindu name & give false address details? To get easy Visa or to execute a violent act & defame Hindus? — Jagrati Shukla (@JagratiShukla29) June 29, 2018 The same was reiterated by Prashant Patel earlier, who had been continuously making provocative tweets since Tanvi’s tweet on June 20. MEA bowed down & violated its own rules. When there is different names on Application form & on documents then why Vikas Mishra was forced to issue #Passport to Shadia Anas by @SushmaSwaraj ? — Prashant Patel Umrao (@ippatel) June 21, 2018 These are misinformed claims for the following reasons: A. Marriage certificate is not mandatory for passport application Tanvi’s name in her Nikahnama is irrelevant because marriage certificate is not a compulsory document that needs to be submitted to get a passport. The government had in December 2016 announced new passport rules. Among other things, the new rules clarify “no affidavit or marriage certificate required for married applicants.” Separated, divorced or deserted couples also no longer need to fill Annexure K. B. Tanvi did not provide a wrong address but her permanent address Earlier, Lucknow police had submitted an adverse report to RPO Lucknow saying that Tanvi had not been living in the city for the past one year but was residing in Noida. However, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar clarified that “Tanvi had submitted her Aadhaar and a joint bank account for proof of address which was the same as the address mentioned in her application form.