MUMBAI: Observing that the permission of a court where a criminal case is pending is not required for renewal of a passport, the Bombay high court directed the regional passport office to process a man’s application without insisting on it.
Justices Sanjay Gangapurwala and Madhav Jamdar on August 23 quashed and set aside a 2018 communication of the passport office that rejected the application of Abbas Kagalwala stating that he has to obtain permission from the court where the criminal case is pending. Kagalwala (82) moved HC in 2019. He has a pending case against him for cheating and forgery.
His advocate Vivek Kantawala argued that for renewal of passport, permission of a court where the criminal case is pending is not necessary. “If a criminal case is pending, the only limitation would be that the petitioner cannot travel abroad without the court’s permission,” he added.
Centre’s advocate relied on an August 25, 1993, notification and the Passport Act, 1967, which states that the passport authority can refuse to issue a passport to an applicant who has a case pending before a criminal court. He said Kagalwala will have to obtain permission from the court for issuance of passport. But the judges pointed out that “it will be in case of issuance of passport and not renewal.”
They noted that the validity of Kagalwala’s passport expired in 2017 and his application has been pending for over four years. In view of the fact that he was issued a passport earlier and seeks renewal, they directed that “the respondent (passport office) to process the application for renewal of passport without insisting for permission of the court, where a criminal case is pending against the petitioner.” “If the petitioner is travelling abroad, the petitioner would be required to seek permission from the court where the criminal case is pending,” they said. They also directed “that a decision shall be taken as observed above within two months.”
