The Court said that the petitioner would be required to approach the competent court for permission only in case of a plan to go abroad.
The recent ruling by the Allahabad High Court states that individuals facing pending criminal cases are not required to obtain court permission before applying for a passport [Umapati v. Union of India].
Justices Alok Mathur and Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal emphasized that the competent authority must make a decision on passport issuance applications under Section 5 of the Passports Act.
“If he is of the opinion that it is a fit case for grant of a passport, he may pass an appropriate order for issuance of the passport and in case he feels that conditions exists for refusal for grant of the passport he may pass an appropriate order considering grounds of Section 6 of Indian Passport Act,” the Court said.
The court clarified that there is no requirement for individuals involved in criminal cases to obtain prior court permission for passport issuance.
“This Court is of the considered view that no prior permission from the competent court is required where the criminal cases are pending for issue of passport under the Indian Passport Act and no such provision has been envisaged in the said Act.”
The Court considered a petition filed by Umapati, where the passport authority had refrained from making a decision on issuing a passport because of two pending criminal cases against him.
In reply to Umapati’s petition requesting a decision on his pending passport application, Deputy Solicitor General SB Pandey argued that the passport authority was not obligated to make a decision and suggested that the petitioner should apply to the court handling the pending criminal cases.
However, the Court specified that the petitioner would need to approach the competent court for permission only if intending to travel abroad.
In dismissing the objection raised by the counsel for the Central government, the Court stated,
“Once an application is made for grant of a passport then the authority has to take a decision in terms of statutory provisions under the Indian Passport Act and accordingly a case for interference is made out.”
Therefore, the Court instructed the passport authority to review and adjudicate the petitioner’s passport application in compliance with the law.
