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| Issuance of passport Authority not bound by recommendation of Intelligence Agency: High Court | | |
JAMMU, AUGUST-18, 2007 :- Justice YP Nargotra of Jammu & Kashmir High Court Jammu wing disposed of 7 writ petitions involved common question “ Can consideration for granting a passport be withheld on account of CID clearance”, has observed that where complete police verification report has not been received within 30 days, the passport authority is to take a decision by following instructions of Chief Passport Officer and directed passport authority to dispose of the applications filed for issuance/renewal/re-issue of passports by passing appropriate orders within 3 weeks.
These directions has been passed in 7 writ petitions in which the petitioners have applied for issuance of passports, but neither the same have been issued nor the issuance has been declined by the passport authority. The stand of the respondent is that on receipt of the applications for issuance/renewal of passports, the cases were sent for clearance by the CID and either the same has not been received back or received with the inconclusive report or received with the recommendation that the same should not be issued, therefore, no decision in the matter as yet been taken by the authority. It is not dispute that till today a period of more than a year has elapsed from the date of receipt of the applications.
Mr. VK Magoo Additional Solicitor General appearing for Union of India submitted that though the requirement of police verification of applications for issuance of passports in the all the states of the country except few states including J&K has been dispensed with, but same is still necessary for the applicants of the state in terms of circular dated September 11, 2006 issued by the Ministry of External Affairs and therefore in the cases it has not been received or received with adverse recommendation from the CID, the passport has not been issued. On the other hand Adv Sunil Sethi appearing for the petitioners submitted that for want of the police verification the passport authority cannot with hold his decision regarding issuance of passports in favour of the petitioners. The passport can be declined only on the grounds mentioned in the section 6 of the passport Act 1967 and he referred section 5 of the passport acts 1967 deals with the issuance of passports and travel documents etc.
Justice YP Nargotra after hearing Advocates Sunil Sethi and SA Malik appearing for the petitioners and VK Magoo Additional Solicitor General appearing for the Union of India observed that from the bare reading of the section it would transpire on receipt of the application, the passport authority is empowered to make such enquiry, which he may considered necessary before issuance of a passport. It is because of such power of making enquiry; the passport officer is entitled to seek police verification report in regard to the antecedents who have applied for issuance of passport. The purpose of such enquiry by the passport authority is to enable himself to make-up his mind as to whether the passport or travel documents should be issued or refused in the circumstances of each particular case. In any case the decision over the issue of passport or travel documents has to be taken by the passport authority alone and for taking such decision he may keep the intelligence report. Merely because the intelligence report received is adverse, the passport authority cannot defer his own decision and he is not bound by the recommendations of the intelligence agency.
Justice YP Nargotra referred guidelines issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, Govt of India further observed that where complete police verification report has not been received within 30 days the passport authority is to take a decision by following instructions of Chief Passport Officer, therefore, in no case the passport officer can withhold consideration of the question of issuance of passport or travel documents indefinitely and same shall be true about the cases of renewal or re-issue of passports or travel documents. In this view of the positions these writ petitions are disposed of with a direction of the passport authority to dispose of the applications filed for issuance/renewal/re-issue of passports by passing appropriate orders within 3 weeks.
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