Person with criminal case has to get court nod for passport: HC

Madurai: A person against whom a criminal case was pending has to get prior permission from the court concerned for reissue/renewal of a passport, and reissue/renewal of a passport has to be treated by the passport officer in the same manner as the issuance of a fresh passport, a full bench of the Madras high court has ruled.The full bench comprising justice G Jayachandran, justice S Srimathy and justice K K Ramakrishnan passed the order while answering a reference made by a single judge on the question of whether the reissue/renewal of a passport had to be treated by the passport officer in the same manner as the issuance of a fresh passport, or was simply a case of renewal.The single judge was hearing a petition filed by Jawahar Rajan challenging the order passed by the authorities rejecting his application to reissue a passport since a criminal case was pending against him. In view of conflicting judgments rendered by two division benches of the court, the single judge, without going into the merits of the case, referred the matter for decision by a larger bench.The judges observed that the power to reissue or renew a passport after expiry of its tenure is traceable to Section 5 of the Passport Act. The restrictions contained in Section 6(2)(f) of the Act apply not only to a fresh application, but also to reissuance/renewal. The judges observed that, from the scheme of the Passports Act, Passports Rules, notification of the ministry of external affairs in GSR No 570(E) dated August 25, 1993, and official memorandum (OM) of the ministry of external affairs dated Oct 10, 2019, it is clear that people facing criminal proceedings are not absolutely disentitled to a passport.The judges observed that, to ensure people suspected of heinous crime are prevented from fleeing, if any FIR is registered against the applicant, the investigating officer had to furnish clearance mentioning the nature of the case and the stage of the investigation. It is for the passport authority to decide those applications based on the report. If the passport is declined with a speaking order, the same shall be subject to judicial review. In cases where criminal proceedings are pending, that is, cases where the court took cognisance pending trial or appeal, the guidelines provided in the notification GSR 570(E) and the instructions provided in the 2019 OM had to be scrupulously followed.Insofar as the case in hand, on the date of application for reissuance of a passport, a criminal case against the petitioner was pending trial before the judicial magistrate court in Madurai. Therefore, the petitioner had to get prior permission from the court concerned and submit the same along with his application, the judges observed, and disposed of the petition.