The petitioner filed a writ petition seeking the re-issuance of his passport, which was denied due to a pending criminal case against him. The petitioner had applied for passport renewal in 2017, but it was refused based on the ongoing legal matter. However, during the hearing, it was revealed that the petitioner had been acquitted in the said criminal case on September 13, 2023. Considering this development, the court directed the passport authority to process the petitioner's application for re-issuance. The passport was to be issued within four weeks, provided all other conditions were met. The writ petition was disposed of with this direction, and no costs were awarded.
Brief Facts:
The Petitioner has had a passport since 2003. When his passport's validity ran out in 2017, the petitioner submitted all the required documentation to request a new passport. As a result of the application being submitted, the first Respondent directed the Petitioner to appear for some clarification through a communication dated 18.05.2017. When the Petitioner arrived, he was informed that He was facing a criminal charge in connection with Crime No. 205 of 2012, registered by the Police i.e. Respondent No. 2. As a result, the Passport Office declined to renew the Petitioner's application for a passport.
Contentions of the Petitioner:
A Writ Petition was filed by the Petitioner for the issuance of the Writ of Mandamus so that it can be directed to the Passport Office to reissue the passport to the Petitioner.
Contentions of the Respondent:
Respondent No.1 contended that the reason behind the non-renewal was the criminal case pending against the Petitioner, but it was cleared by Respondent No. 2 that the said case ended in acquittal.
Observations of the Court:
It was observed that if a past criminal case has ended in acquittal there would be no difficulty for the Passport office to issue a passport for the Petitioner since the only ground of denial was the pending criminal case against the Petitioner.
The decision of the Court:
The bench directed Respondent No. 1 to process the application for the renewal, filed by the Petitioner and issue the passport subject to the petitioner complying with all other conditions.
Case Title: S.Yoosuf v.The Regional Passport Officer & Ors
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice N.Anand Venkatesh
Case No.: W.P. (MD) No. 530 of 2020
Advocate for Petitioner: Mr. L.Shaji Chellan
Advocate for Respondent: Mr.S.Ponkarthikeyan and Mr.R.Sivakumar
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