Gujarat High Court

Mohammed Rafiq Aiyubmiya Shaikh vs Regional Passport Officer Ahmedabad on 7 October, 2025

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                            C/SCA/12318/2025                                    ORDER DATED: 07/10/2025

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                                   IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD

                                    R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 12318 of 2025

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                                         MOHAMMED RAFIQ AIYUBMIYA SHAIKH
                                                      Versus
                                       REGIONAL PASSPORT OFFICER AHMEDABAD
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                      Appearance:
                      MR MOIZ S QURESHI(12981) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1
                      MR PRADIP D BHATE(1523) for the Respondent(s) No. 1
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                         CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE NIRAL R. MEHTA

                                                          Date : 07/10/2025

                                                            ORAL ORDER

[1] RULE. Mr. Pradip D. Bhate, learned advocate waives

service of notice of Rule for the respondent.

[2] The present Special Civil Application seeks direction to

hold the renewal of passport of the petitioner only for 10 year

being violative of his fundamental right and therefore, being illegal,

arbitrary and discriminatory and in violation of the provisions of

the Passport Act, 1967. By way of the present petition, the

petitioner seeks a direction to direct the respondent to reissue a

new passport to the petitioner in place of Passport No.X6909561

for a period of 10 years.

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[3] Learned advocate for the petitioner has submitted that

under the prevalent rules of the GSR Notification 570(E) dated 25 th

August 1993, the respondent authority has to renew the passport of

the petitioner for a period of 10 years. He submits that the trial

against the petitioner has been pending since last 7 years and

during the pendency of the trial the petitioner's passport has

expired on 6th March 2024. The petitioner has therefore moved an

application for renewal of passport before the concerned Trial

Court. The Trial Court vide its order dated 3rd June 2025 has

directed the passport authority to renew the passport of the

petitioner for a period of 10 years.

[4] He submits that though the learned Trial Court has

directed the respondent authority to renew the passport of the

petitioner for a period of 10 years. He submits that the petitioner

preferred an application for renewal of passport being Application

No.AH1075309737225 dated 3rd July 2025. However, the

respondent authority has not renewed the same and raised an

objection letter dated 22nd July 2025, stating that the petitioner

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should furnish permission from the Court concerned permitting the

petitioner to depart from India. He submits that the petitioner is

not having any plan at present to travel abroad, however the

petitioner is seeking to renew his passport as the same has expired

on 6th March 2024.

[4.1] 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 2014 SCC Online Bom 356-

Narendra K. Ambwani v. Union of India and others, 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.

[5] Per contra, Mr. Pradip D. Bhate, learned advocate for

the respondent 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 in view of said

Notification, the passport authorities will issue the passport as per

the rules and the prevalent notifications. He submits that, however,

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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.

[6] Considered the submissions and perused the documents on

record.

[7] It is not disputed that one FIR came to be lodged

against petitioner being C.R. No. I/27 of 2018 under Sections 408,

409, 420 and 114 of Indian Penal Code dated 4 th April 2018 before

Modasa Town Police Station, District: Arvali and pursuant to that

FIR, Criminal Case has also registered being Criminal Case No. 316

of 2019 and same is pending before Trial Court and second FIR

came to be registered against petitioner being C.R. No. I/14 of

2019 under Sections 406, 420, 408, 409, 465, 467, 47, and 114 of

Indian Penal Code dated 27th February 2019 before Modasa Town

Police Station, District: Arvalli and pursuant to that FIR, Criminal

Case has also registered as Criminal Case No. 26 of 2021 and same

is pending before Trial Court.

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[8] 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 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

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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 given 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."

[9] 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.

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.

[10] The Division Bench of the Bombay High Court in writ

petition No.361 of 2014 dated 13th March 2014 has held thus:-

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"10. In the circumstances, we propose to issue guidelines to be followed by the Respondents on receipt of the applications for renewal 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 renewal 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 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 renewal of the passports as per Passport Rules, 1980 and to no other. In other cases, where

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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 renewal of the passports of such accused persons shall continue to be governed by such Notification(s)."

[11] Though the said decision is not binding on this Court, it

has certainly persuasive 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 learned Trial Court has clearly directed that the

application for renewal of the passport of the petitioner for a period

of 10 years. It is not disputed that learned Trial Court has given a

direction to renew the passport of the petitioner for a period of 10

years. This Court is of the considered opinion that the directions

issued by the Bombay High Court are binding upon the passport

authorities to renew the passport for a period of 10 years as per the

Act and the Rules.