Hon'ble Apex Court in Vangala Kasturi Rangacharulu v. Central Bureau of Investigation
Case Details
Neutral Citation No. - 2023:AHC:128283 Court No. - 51 Case :- MATTERS UNDER ARTICLE 227 No. - 6574 of 2023 Petitioner :- Jai Prakash Respondent :- State of U.P. and Another Counsel for Petitioner :- Lakshmi Kant Pandey,Dipendra Kumar Tripathi Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.
Legal Reasoning
Hon'ble Nalin Kumar Srivastava,J. 1. Present petition under Article 227 of the Constitution of India has been filed with the prayer to set aside the order dated 19.4.2023 passed by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Court No.1, Azamgarh in Case No. 1953 of 2023, case crime no. 152 of 1996, under Sections 504 and 506 IPC, Police Station Mehnazpur, District Azamgarh and also a direction to the concerned authority to grant permission for renewal of the passport of the petitioner. 2. It is submitted by the learned counsel of the petitioner that the petitioner went Saudi Arabia for livelihood in the year 1997 and since then he never returned to India. His passport was renewed time to time. On 29.11.2022 when the petitioner moved an application for renewal of his passport, it could not be renewed due to pendency of the aforesaid Criminal Case against him. Thereafter, the petitioner moved an application dated 7.4.2023 before the concerned Court for a direction for renewal of the said passport but by the impugned order the said application was rejected. It is further submitted that the petitioner is ready and willing to come to India to participate in the proceedings of the aforesaid criminal case. It is further submitted that the petitioner will not leave the country unless the said criminal case is decided finally. 3. Learned AGA has opposed the prayer. 4. I have considered the rival submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the entire record carefully. 5. In this matter, it reveals from the perusal of the record that the aforesaid Case No. 1953 of 2023, case crime no. 152 of 1996 under Sections 504 and 506 IPC, Police Station Mehnazpur, District Azamgarh is pending against the petitioner before the concerned Court and non-bailable warrant has also been issued against him. The petitioner at present is residing at Saudi Arabia and he wants to come to India to participate in the proceedings of the said case but since his passport has not been renewed and the application moved in this regard has been rejected by the appropriate Passport Authority on the ground that since one criminal case is pending against him in India, he is unable to come back to India. 6. Hon'ble Apex Court in Vangala Kasturi Rangacharulu vs. Central Bureau of Investigation (Criminal Appeal No. 1342 of 2017), decided on 27.9.2021 has held that "The passport authority cannot refuse the renewal of the passport even after a party is convicted and his challenge to such conviction is pending consideration." 7. Further, the Government of India, Ministry of External Affairs issued Notification dated 25.8.1993 which is as under: "GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS NOTIFICATION New Delhi, the 25th August, 1993 G.S.R. 570(E). - In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (a) of 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 offence 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 the 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 for 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 the 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 a 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. [No.VI/401/37/79] L.K. PONAPPA, Jt. Secy. (CPV)" 8. In this connection, the provisions of Section 22 of the Passports Act are also relevant which read as under:- "22. Power to exempt.--Where the Central Government is of the opinion that it is necessary or expedient in the public interest so to do, it may, by notification in the Official Gazette and subject to such conditions, if any, as it may specify in the notification,-- (a) exempt any person or class of persons from the operation of all or any of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder; and (b) as often as may be, cancel any such notification and again subject, by a like notification, the person or class of persons to the operation of such provisions."
Decision
9. In view of the above, it is evident that during pendency of any criminal case, passport can be issued / renewed if the Court passes an appropriate order for that purpose. In the present case, the petitioner is willing and ready to participate in the proceedings of the aforesaid criminal case and earlier his passport was renewed from time to time. Hence, in these circumstances and in view of the law laid down by the Hon'ble Apex Court in Vangala Kasturi Rangacharyulu (supra), the concerned Regional Passport Officer is directed to consider the renewal of the passport of the petitioner within three weeks from the date of production of the certified copy of this order before it so that the petitioner may come to India to participate in the proceedings of the aforesaid criminal case. 10. It is made clear that whenever the petitioner comes back to India, he will deposit his passport with the Court concerned and will not leave the country without permission of the Court concerned. 11. With the aforesaid observations, the petition stands disposed of. Order Date :- 23.6.2023 safi Digitally signed by :- MAHBOOB SAFI High Court of Judicature at Allahabad