Samseer Bappikkantakath vs Regional Passport Officer

Kerala High Court

Samseer Bappikkantakath vs Regional Passport Officer on 10 May, 2024

Author: Murali Purushothaman

Bench: Murali Purushothaman

              IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
                              PRESENT
          THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE MURALI PURUSHOTHAMAN
      FRIDAY, THE 10TH DAY OF MAY 2024 / 20TH VAISAKHA, 1946
                      WP(C) NO. 16979 OF 2024
PETITIONER:

          SAMSEER BAPPIKKANTAKATH, AGED 34 YEARS,
          KANNUKARATHI HOUSE, VAYAKKARA P.O,
          PADIYOTTUCHAL VIA, PAYYANNUR,
          KANNUR DIST, PIN - 670353.

          BY ADV PRAVEEN K. JOY


RESPONDENT:

          REGIONAL PASSPORT OFFICER,
          REGIONAL PASSPORT OFFICE,
          KOZHIKODE, ERANHIPALAM POST,
          KOZHIKODE, PIN - 673006.

          BY ADV KRISHNA T C, SENIOR PANEL COUNSEL


     THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON
10.05.2024, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
 WP(C) NO. 16979 OF 2024
                            -2-

                          JUDGMENT

The petitioner is the holder of an Indian passport bearing No.W4352922. The passport of the petitioner was damaged, and he submitted an application for re-issuance of the same under the Tatkal Scheme. It is submitted that a criminal case is pending against him before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court Payyanur, Kannur District, as C.C.No.1129/2016 under Sections 279, 338, and 304 (A) of the IPC.

2. The respondent issued Ext.P2 communication informing the petitioner that there is an adverse Police Report and the petitioner can apply for re-issuance of the passport after the disposal of the case pending before the Magistrate Court.

3. The learned counsel for the petitioner refers to notification GSR 570 (E), which is extracted below:

"In exercise of the powers conferred by clause

(a) of Section 22 of the Passports Act 1967 (15 of WP(C) NO. 16979 OF 2024 -3- 1967) and in supersession of the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of External Affairs No.GSR 298(E), dated the 14 th of April, 1976, the Central Government, being of the opinion that it is necessary in public interest to do so, hereby exempts citizens of India against whom proceedings in respect of an offence alleged to have been committed by them are 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- a.) the passport to be issued to every such citizen shall be issued:-

i. for the period specified in order of the court referred to above, if the court specifies a period for which the passport has to be issued: or ii. if no period either for the issue of the passport or for the travel abroad is specified in such order, the passport shall be issued for a period of one year:

iii. if such order gives permission to travel abroad for a period less than one year, but does WP(C) NO. 16979 OF 2024 -4- not specify the period validity of the passport, the passport shall be issued for one year; or iv. if such order gives permission to travel abroad for a period exceeding one year, and does not specify the validity of the passport, then the passport shall be issued for the period of travel abroad specified in the order.

b) any passport issued in terms of (a) (ii) and (a) (iii) above can be further renewed for one year at a time, provided the applicant has not traveled abroad for the period sanctioned by the court; and provided further that, in the meantime, the order of the court is not cancelled or modified;

c) any passport issued in terms of (a) (i) above can be further renewed only on the basis of a fresh court order specifying a further period of validity of the passport or specifying a period for travel abroad:

d) the said citizen shall give an undertaking in writing to the passport issuing authority that he shall, if required by the court concerned, appear before it at any time during the continuance in force of the passport so issued."

WP(C) NO. 16979 OF 2024 -5-

4. Though the criminal case is pending before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, it will be open to the petitioner to approach the said Court and obtain necessary permission for travelling abroad. The observation in Ext.P2 shall not stand in the way of the petitioner approaching the competent jurisdictional Magistrate Court and obtaining the necessary permission to travel abroad.

With the aforesaid observations, this writ petition is disposed of.

Sd/-

MURALI PURUSHOTHAMAN JUDGE akv WP(C) NO. 16979 OF 2024 -6- APPENDIX OF WP(C) 16979/2024 PETITIONER EXHIBITS EXHIBIT P1 TRUE COPY OF THE PASSPORT BEARING NO.

W4352922 DATED 7.10.2022 ISSUED BY THE RESPONDENT TO THE PETITIONER EXHIBIT P2 TRUE COPY OF THE NOTICE DATED 22.03.2024 ISSUED BY THE RESPONDENT TO THE PETITIONER EXHIBIT P3 TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT DATED 25.01.2024 IN WP(C) 1867/2024 ISSUED BY THE THIS HONBLE COURT