Gujarat High Court
Patel Akshay Jagdishbhai vs The Union Of India on 19 September, 2025
NEUTRAL CITATION
C/SCA/12232/2025 ORDER DATED: 19/09/2025
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 12232 of 2025
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PATEL AKSHAY JAGDISHBHAI
Versus
THE UNION OF INDIA
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Appearance:
MR LAXMANSINH M ZALA(5787) 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 : 19/09/2025
ORAL ORDER
1. Rule. Learned advocate Mr.Pradip Bhate waives
service of notice of Rule on behalf of the respondents.
2. The present Special Civil Application seeks a
direction to extend the validity of his passport for a period of
ten years by making appropriate endorsement on his Passport
bearing No.M7663666.
3. Learned advocate for the petitioner has
submitted that under the prevalent Rules of the GSR
Notification 570(E) dated 25th August, 1993, the respondent
authority has to renew the passport of the petitioner for a
period of ten years. He submits that the petitioner is facing
trial in Criminal Case No.1559 of 2022 pending in the court of
learned Judicial Magistrate, Kalol. The passport of the
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C/SCA/12232/2025 ORDER DATED: 19/09/2025
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petitioner was to expire on 25.3.2025. The petitioner has,
therefore, moved application before the Passport Authority
wherein the Authority has taken objection.
3.1 Thereafter, the petitioner made an application
on 30.6.2025 for issuance of a new passport with validity
period of ten years, wherein the petitioner has disclosed
pendency of one case pending against him. Learned advocate
for the petitioner submits that appropriate direction be passed
since the petitioner is well settled and has no intention of
absconding.
3.2 Learned advocate for the petitioner in support
of his submissions has relied upon the judgment of the
Division Bench of High Court of Mumbai in case of Narendra
K. Ambwani v. Union of India [2014 SCC Online Bom
356], wherein the High Court of Mumbai 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.
4. Per contra, learned advocate Mr.Pradip D.
Bhate for the respondents submitted that the passport of the
petitioner may be renewed in terms of the GSR Notification
570(E) dated 25th August, 1993. 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
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appropriate directions be passed accordingly.
5. Considered the submissions and perused the
documents on record.
6. It is not disputed that the one case is pending
against the petitioner as mentioned in above paras.
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 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.
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(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; orif 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 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."
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 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.
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9. The Division Bench of the High Court of Mumbai 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 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
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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 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).
10. Though the said decision is not binding on this
Court, it has certainly a 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 should be processed as per the Act
and Rules framed thereunder. It is not disputed that the
learned 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
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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 the High Court of Mumbai 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 ten years and consider the
application for renewal of his passport, which, at present,
expired. However, it is clarified that if the petitioner has to
undertake any travel abroad, he will have to make appropriate
application to the concerned Trial Court seeking permission to
travel abroad, which shall impose such conditions as it deems
fit and proper in case of the petitioner. The application for
renewal of the passport made by the petitioner on 9.6.2025 be
decided expeditiously within a period of four weeks from the
date of this order.
11.1 The petitioner is also directed to surrender his
passport to the concerned court where the trial against him is
pending upon receiving his renewed passport for a period of
ten years.
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12. With the aforesaid directions, the present Special
Civil Application is allowed and accordingly stands disposed
of. Rule is made absolute to the aforesaid extent.
(NIRAL R. MEHTA,J)
V.J. SATWARA
