In a strongly worded judgment issued on 15 July and published on 17 July 2026, the Delhi High Court struck down the government’s multi-year contracts for passport, visa and other consular services across Australia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. Two losing bidders successfully argued that the Ministry of External Affairs used undisclosed benchmarks and inconsistent scoring to disqualify them, violating principles of transparency under Article 14 of the Constitution. The ruling immediately triggered a halt in new applications in Australia, where service partner VFS Global has paused appointments since 1 July pending clarity. Similar pauses are expected in Singapore and the Gulf once current contracts expire at month-end. According to court filings, the combined value of the four contracts exceeds ₹1,600 crore (≈US$190 million) and covers processing for more than six million travellers annually. Indian professionals seeking Police Clearance Certificates (PCCs) to lodge Australian permanent-residency files are among the hardest hit. Several candidates tell Business Standard they have booked last-minute flights to India to obtain PCCs locally before invitation deadlines lapse. Travel-management companies report a spike in complex itineraries and rebooking costs for corporate assignees. The court has permitted incumbent vendors to continue day-to-day operations until a new tender is awarded, but industry insiders warn that staffing uncertainty and systems shut-downs could still create backlogs. Mobility managers are advised to build in 4-to-6-week buffers for Indian consular documentation in the affected countries and monitor further litigation, including the government’s pending Supreme Court appeal.
Source: Business Standard
