Gujarat High Court
Faruk Noormamd Sanghar vs Union Of India on 28 July, 2025
NEUTRAL CITATION
C/SCA/9671/2025 ORDER DATED: 28/07/2025
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 9671 of 2025
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FARUK NOORMAMD SANGHAR
Versus
UNION OF INDIA & ANR.
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Appearance:
A N KADRI(7990) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1
MR. AMMAR SAIYED(17184) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1
MR PRADIP D BHATE(1523) for the Respondent(s) No. 1,2
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE NIRAL R. MEHTA
Date : 28/07/2025
ORAL ORDER
1. Rule, returnable forthwith. Learned
advocate Mr.Pradip Bhate waives service of Rule
for the respondents.
2. The present Special Civil Application
seeks a direction to hold the reissue of the
passport of the petitioner for five years, as the
said action of not reissuing the passport as
being violative of his fundamental right and
therefore, being illegal, arbitrary and
discriminatory and in violation of the provisions
of the Passport Act, 1967.
3. Learned advocate for the petitioner has
submitted that under the prevalent rules of the
GSR Notification 570(E) dated 25th August, 1993,
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the respondent authority has to renew the
passport of the petitioner for a period of five
years. He submits that the present petitioner is
citizen of India and one criminal case is
registered against the petitioner. The trial is
pending at the stage of evidence of prosecution.
In the said criminal case, chargesheet is filed
against the present petitioner. He submits that
as the validity of the petitioner's passport has
expired, petitioner made application seeking
reissue of the passport. The Trial Court vide its
order dated 15th April, 2025 has directed the
passport authority to renew the passport of the
petitioner as per the rules and prevalent
notifications. Learned advocate for the
petitioner submits that the petitioner had
applied for reissue of the passport for the
period of five years, however, the respondent
authority has refused to renew the passport for a
period of five years. He submits that the
petitioner intends to get his passport for the
purpose of travelling to abroad with his family
members. Learned advocate submitted that the
passport authority has failed to appreciate the
fact that the Trial Court has directed the
Passport Authority to reissue the passport of the
petitioner, and has overreached its powers by
demanding permission from the Hon'ble Court
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concerned to depart from India in order to
process the passport application of the
petitioner. He, therefore, submits that
appropriate direction be issued to the passport
authority so that the passport of the petitioner
be renewed for a period of five yeas and the
petitioner has no intention of absconding.
3.1 Learned advocate for the petitioner in
support of his submissions has relied upon the
judgment of the Division Bench of Bombay High
Court reported in case of Narendra K. Ambwani v.
Union of India [2014 SCC Online Bom 356] wherein
the Bombay High Court has issued guidelines to be
followed by the passport authorities where the
Trial Court has directed that the passport may be
renewed as per the rules. Learned advocate for
the petitioner has further relied upon decision
passed by Co-ordinate Bench of this Hon'ble Court
in Special Civil Application no. 14533 of 2023
wherein, the Hon'ble Court had directed as
follows:
"6. Considering the aforesaid submissions
advanced by the learned advocates appearing for
the respective parties, in the opinion of this
Court, the Notification dated 10.10.2019 would
be applicable to the case of the petitioner.
While relegating the petitioner herein to the
respondent authority, in the interest of
justice, the petitioner herein is directed to
produce on record the FIR which is filed and
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pending against the petitioner herein before
the respondent authority within a period of two
weeks from the date of receipt of this order
and the application dated 10.12.2022 is
directed to be considered for a period of five
years placing reliance on the Notification
dated 10.10.2019 as referred above. The
decision be taken by the respondent No.2
preferably within a period of four weeks from
the receipt of this order.
7. With the aforesaid directions, the present
petition stands disposed of. Direct service is
permitted."
4. Per contra, learned advocate Mr.Pradip
D. Bhate for the respondents has submitted that
the passport of the petitioner has been renewed
from time to time in terms of the GSR
Notification 570(E) dated 25th August, 1993. He
submits that where the order of the Trial Court
grants permission to travel abroad for a period
of less than 1 year but does not specify the
period, the passport has to be renewed only for 1
year. He submits that in view of said
Notification, the passport authorities have
issued the passport as per the rules and the
prevalent notifications. He submits that,
however, there is no restriction on this Court to
issue a direction for issuance of the passport
for a certain period of validity as per the
rules. He, therefore, submits that appropriate
directions be passed accordingly.
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5. Considered the submissions and perused
the documents on record.
6. It is not disputed that one criminal
case has been filed against the present
petitioner wherein the trial is pending before
the Trial Court and by order dated 15th April,
2025 the Trial Court has passed order directing
that the passport of the petitioner to be
permitted to be renewed as per the rules and
regulations applicable to reissue of passport.
7. The GSR Notification 570(E) dated 25th
August, 1993 reads as under:-
"G.S.R 570 (E)-In exercise of the powers
conferred by clause (a) of the 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 in public
interest to do so, hereby exempts citizens of
India against whom proceedings in respect of an
offences 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
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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 or a period one year.
(iii) if such order gives permission to
travel abroad for a period less than one
year, but does 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 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 travelled 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 3 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."
8. Clause (ii) thereof states that if there
is no period specified in the order passed by the
Trial Court for issuance of passport, the
passport shall be issued for a period of one
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year. The said Notification also specifies in
Clause (i) that if the Court specifies the period
for which the passport has to be issued, then the
passport shall be issued for such a specified
period.
8.1 In the present case, the passport
authority has not processed the reissue
application of the petitioner and since the Trial
Court has not specified any period in its order.
Further, the said order also places restriction
that whenever the petitioner has to travel
abroad, he has to take appropriate permission
from the Trial Court.
9. The Division Bench of the Bombay High
Court in writ petition No.361 of 2014 dated 13th
March, 2014 has held thus:
"10. In the circumstances, we propose to issue
guidelines to be followed by the Respondents on
receipt of the applications for reissue of the
passports, in all cases, where the Magistrate's
court has directed that the passports may be
renewed as per the "Rules".
11. Accordingly, we issue the following
directions :-
(a) In all cases where the Magistrate's court
directs reissue of the passports under the
Rules, the Passport Rules, 1980 shall apply
and passports other than for a child aged
more than 15 years shall be renewed for a
period of ten years or twenty years as the
case may be from the date of its issue. All
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qualifying applicants are entitled to have
passport renewed for atleast ten years. The
Regional Passport Office shall renew the
passports of such qualifying applicants
atleast for ten years.
b) In case where the passports are valid and
the applicants hold valid visas on existing
passport, the Regional Passport Officer shall
issue the additional booklet to the same
passport provided the applicant had obtained
permission to travel abroad.
(c) If the learned Magistrate passes an order
making the reference to the said Notification
No. G.S.R. 570(E) dated 26th August, 1993,
the passport shall be renewed only for such
period that the Magistrate may specify in the
order or as otherwise specified in the said
Notification where the passport of the
applicant is valid for less than one year,
the additional booklet may be issued subject
to the orders to be obtained in this behalf
only of the Magistrate concerned.
12. For avoidance of doubt, we clarify that the
guidelines set out herein will be applicable
only in the cases where the learned Magistrate
ordered reissue of the passports as per
Passport Rules, 1980 and to no other. In other
cases, where the learned Magistrate had granted
permission to the accused persons to depart
from India, the provisions of Section 6(2)(f)
of the Passports Act, 1967 and the
Notification(s) issued thereunder from time to
time by the Ministry of External Affairs or
such other competent authority so empowered,
will continue to apply and directions
permitting the accused persons to depart from
India and/or the orders permitting reissue of
the passports of such accused persons shall
continue to be governed by such
Notification(s)."
10. Though the said decision is not binding
on this Court, it has certainly a persuasive
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value. In the considered opinion of this Court,
the ratio of the said judgment squarely applies
in the facts and circumstances of the present
case. In case of the petitioner herein, the Trial
Courts have clearly directed that the application
for reissue of the passport of the petitioner
should be processed as per the Act and Rules
framed thereunder. It is not disputed that the
Trial Court has not given any direction as to the
period for which the passport of the petitioner
should be renewed. The Central Government has
issued a Notification by exercising powers vested
in it under Section 6(2) (f) of the Passport Act,
1967 being GSR Notification 570(E) dated 25th
August, 1993. There being an ambiguity under the
provisions of the Act, the Rules and the GSR
Notification 570(E) dated 25th August, 1993 issued
by the passport authority, the Division Bench of
the Bombay High Court has clarified the said
ambiguity in case of Narendra K. Ambwani (supra).
This Court is also of the considered opinion that
the passport authorities do not have any
authority to decide whether the accused has a
right to travel abroad and such authority is only
vested in the Trial Court which can impose
conditions if an application is made seeking
permission to travel abroad. This Court is of the
considered opinion that the directions issued by
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the Bombay High Court are binding upon the
passport authorities to renew the passport for a
period of ten years as per the Act and the Rules.
11. In view of the aforesaid reasons and
observations, the respondent authorities are
directed to renew the passport of the petitioner
for a period of five years. However, it is
clarified that if the petitioner has to undertake
any travel abroad, he will have to make
appropriate application to the Trial Court
seeking permission to travel abroad, which shall
impose such conditions as it deems fit and proper
in case of the petitioner.
12. With the aforesaid directions, the
present Special Civil Application is allowed.
Rule is made absolute to the aforesaid extent.
(NIRAL R. MEHTA,J)
ANUP
