Rajeeva M J vs Union Of India & Ors.

S Sunil Dutt Yadav, J

The present petition has been filed seeking for issuance of writ of mandamus to direct the respondents to process and issue passport to the petiioner in accordance with law as regards his pending application in File No. BNM075164213025 at Annexure-B.

It is the case of the petitioner that petitioner was issued a passport on 14.08.2014 and as the validity had expired on 13.08.2024, petitioner on 21.05.2025 has applied seeking renewal of his passport. It is further submitted that the renewal has not been considered and upon enquiry, petitioner noticed in the portal that an entry was made under the caption 'status' as follows:

"Police Verification Report is not clear and application is under review at Regional Passport Office."

The petitioner is given to understand that in light of the proceedings initiated against him, his application was not cleared in police verification. It is submitted that an FIR dated 04.04.2025 was lodged against him and registered as Crime No. 83/2025. However, as regards the said crime number and registration of FIR, petitioner had approached this Court in W.P.No.5846/2025 and an interim order has been passed staying further investigation as per the order of this Court dated 22.04.2025.

Learned counsel for the petitioner relies on the observations made in W.P.No.18066/2023 and the learned counsel for the respondent submits that appropriate directions may be passed taking note of the observations made in W.P.No.18066/2023.

The observations made in W.P.No.18066/2023 are of relevance and discussed the aspect of legal consequence of absence of taking cognizance as regards complaints. The observations at Para Nos. 11 and 12 are extracted for reference:

"12. In furtherance of the afore-quoted statutory provision, the Ministry of External Affairs had issued a notification in Notification No.GSR570(E) on 25.08.1993, as to what must be done in cases where there are pending cases before the criminal court, against the holder of a passport. This is further clarified by another Office Memorandum dated 10.10.2019, the relevant clause of which, reads as follows:

“(vi) In case where the secondary Police verification is also ‘Adverse’, it may be examined whether the details brought out in the police report match the undertaking submitted by the applicant. It may be noted that mere filing of FIRs and cases under investigation do not come under the purview of Section 6(2)(f) and that criminal proceedings would only be considered pending against an applicant if a case has been registered before any Court of law and the court has taken cognizance of the same.”

(Emphasis supplied)

The clarification is rendered by the Ministry of External Affairs that mere filing of FIR and cases under investigation would not come under the purview of Section 6(2)(f) of the Act and the criminal proceedings would only be considered when pending, and the concerned Court has taken cognizance of the offence, which would presuppose that the charge sheet has been filed by the Officer in-charge of a police station.

In the light of the aforesaid clarification, in cases where the proceedings are pending against the holders of the passports, when they seek renewal or re-issuance, it cannot be denied on the ground that the proceedings are pending against those holders of the passports only in cases, where the proceedings are at the stage of crime, and the concerned criminal Court has not taken cognizance of the offence. Any other proceeding pending invoking any other law, will not become an impediment for the Passport Authorities for issuance / re-issuance / renewal of passport. Therefore, it is expected of the Passport Authorities to act in accordance with the clarification as obtaining in the Office Memorandum dated 10.10.2019 and not deny re-issuance / renewal of passport to those passport holders against whom pending criminal cases are at the stage of investigation, and the concerned Court is not yet take cognizance, and not drive every passport holder to knock at the doors of this Court, for redressal of their grievance."

In light of the stipulation in the Office Memorandum of 10.10.2019, there appears to be no warrant for the Authority not to proceed further as the Court has not taken cognizance of the complaint. In light of the order of stay passed in W.P.No.5846/2025 and noticing the assertion which stands un-controverted that no cognizance has been taken, the respondents are directed to proceed further taking note of the observations in W.P.No.18066/2023 and process the application for renewal and pass orders in light of observations made above within a period of 2 days from today.

In light of the above, the writ petition is disposed off.