Pushpa Sathyanarayana, J. W.P(MD)No. 2136 of 2020. D/d. 4.2.2020.–Issuance of Passport – Though FIR pending, no cognizance taken by any criminal Court – Passport Authority directed to issue passport to petitioner.

Law Finder Live !!

This judgement ranked 1 in the hitlist.
photo_camera
print
picture_as_pdf
description
stop

Shahid Afridi v. Regional Passport Officer, (Madras)(Madurai Bench) : Law Finder Doc Id # 1729227
MADRAS HIGH COURT
(Madurai Bench)

Before:- Mrs. Pushpa Sathyanarayana, J.

W.P(MD)No. 2136 of 2020. D/d. 4.2.2020.

Shahid Afridi – Petitioner

Versus

The Regional Passport Officer, Regional Passport Office and Ors. – Respondents

For the Petitioner:- Mr. R. Karunanidhi, Advocate.

For the Respondent No. 1:- Mr. V. Kathirvelu Asst. Solicitor General assisted by Mr. I. Sekar Central Govt.Standing Counsel.

For the Respondent No. 2:- Mr. M. Murugan Govt.Advocate.

IMPORTANT

Issuance of Passport – Though FIR pending, no cognizance taken by any criminal Court – Passport Authority directed to issue passport to petitioner.

Passports Act, 1967 Section 6 Denial for issuance of Passport – On ground of registration of FIR against petitioner – Though FIR pending, no cognizance taken by any criminal Court – This cannot be treated as proceeding pending before criminal Court even as per notification issued by Ministry of External Affairs – Passport Authority directed to issue passport to petitioner.

[Paras 4 and 5]

ORDER
Mrs. Pushpa Sathyanarayana, J. – Mr.V.Kathirvelu, learned Assistant Solicitor General, assisted by Mr.I.Sekar, learned Central Government Standing Counsel takes notice for the first respondent and MrM.Murugan, learned Government Advocate takes notice for the second respondent.

2. By consent, the writ petition is taken up for disposal at the admission stage itself.

3. This Writ petition has been filed praying for issuance of a Writ of Mandamus, directing the first respondent to issue a passport to the Petitioner based on his application in File No.MD1062740541520 within the time stipulated by this Court.

4. The case of the petitioner is that he is a resident of Madurai and presently studying B.Sc(Psychology) in American College, Madurai and in order to get a passport, he submitted an application on 6.1.2020 through online and his application is in File No.MD1062740541520. While so, the Petitioner has attended the Police Verification at second respondent Police Station and it was informed that on 31.12.2019, a case was registered against the Petitioner in Crime No.1236 of 2019, for the offence punishable under Sections 341, 283 and 290 of IPC. Moreover, no notice was issued to the Petitioner regarding the registration of FIR against him. In this regard, the Petitioner has also sent a representation to the first respondent on 28.1.2020. Since the same has not been considered so far, the Petitioner has come forward with this Writ Petition.

5. The petitioner’s complaint is that there is only an F.I.R pending from the year 2019. When there is no offence, which has been taken cognizance by any criminal Court, which cannot be treated as a proceeding pending before the criminal Court even as per the notification issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, dated 25.08.1993 in G.S.R.No.570(E) and following the same, orders were also passed directing the authorities to issue the passport. It will be useful to extract the relevant portion of the said notification:

” G.S.R. 570 ( E) – In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (a) of section 22 of the Passports Act 1967 (15 of 1967) and in supersession of the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of External Affairs No .G.S.R. 298 (E) , dated the 14th April, 1976, the Central Government, being of the opinion that it is necessary i n public interest to do so, here by exempts citizens of India against whom proceedings in respect of an offence alleged to have been committed by the mare pending before a criminal Court in India and who produce orders from the Court concerned permitting them to depart from India, from the operation of the provisions of Clause (f) of sub-section (2) of Section 6 of the said Act, subject to the following conditions, namely. .”
6. In view of the above, the first respondent is directed to issue the passport to the Petitioner considering his passport application vide File No.MD1062740541520,dated 6.1.2020 within a period of two weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.

7. With the above direction, the Writ Petition stands disposed of No Costs.

.

| Home | Quick Search | Online Brochure (Download PDF) | 7 things you must try with Law Finder | Products | Help | Feedback | About Us | License Agreement | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy |
For