Don’t deny rights, renew passports for 10 yrs for criminally accused: HC

PANJIM: The High Court of Bombay at Goa has quashed and set aside the order of the Additional Sessions Court, Mapusa, restricting the period of renewal of the passport for only one year of a person facing a criminal case. The Court said that the renewal of passport has to be for a period of 10 years.

A senior citizen Shashikumar Pillai of Penha De Franca had filed a writ petition before the High Court challenging the order of the Sessions Court, Mapusa, restricting the period of renewal of the passport for only one year since he was facing trial in a criminal case.

Pillai, 75 is one of the accused in a case registered in 2017 and pending before the Additional Session Court, Mapusa. The validity of his Indian passport expired on October 10, 2021 and he wanted to apply for the renewal of the said passport. Since a criminal case was pending against him, he filed an application before the Additional Session Court for the purpose of No-Objection to renew his passport.

However, the public prosecutor objected to it, and the Additional Sessions Judge though allowed the application, restricted the period of renewal of the passport for only one year.

Arguing on behalf of the petitioner, Adv Pavithran A V submitted that as per the -notification issued by the Ministry of External Affairs dated August 25, 1993, in case the person against whom the criminal case is pending, the passport will be renewed or re-issued for the period specified in the order by the Court and if no such period is specified, then renewal will be for  a year.

Adv Pavithran further submitted that in the case of Lester Pereira V/s State in criminal writ petition of 2019, the High Court had observed that in all cases where the Magistrate's court directs renewal of the passports under the Rules, passport shall be renewed for a period of 10 years or 20 years as the case may be from the date of its issue. 

All qualifying applicants are entitled to have passport renewed for at least 10 years.

In view of this decision of the Division Bench issuing guidelines as well as the observations in the case of Lester Pereira (Supra), the Court quashed and set aside the restriction for the period of renewal for one-year passed by the Additional Sessions Court, Mapusa.