S. RAVINDRA BHAT, J.

1. Common issues are involved in these three appeals. The question that confronts this Court in LPA No. 13/2016, which is the lead case in this batch, is whether the activities of the passport applicant, while visiting a foreign country on an Indian passport and then applying in that country for asylum, can be construed as “prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India” resulting in justifiable refusal to denial of passport to such individual on that ground under Section 6 (1) (a) of the Passport Act, 1967 (hereafter “the Act”). The decision by the Passport Office to deny passport was held to be illegal, by the learned Single Judge, the Union is consequently in appeal. The other two appeals involve identical facts.

2. The petitioner in W.P. (C) No. 1044/2014 (Satnam Singh, hereafter “Satnam”) returned to India on an Emergency Certificate dated 08.04.2013 issued from the Consulate General of India, Vancouver (Canada). On his return, the petitioner applied for a passport on 08.07.2013, at Passport Office, Jalandhar. The Regional Passport Officer at Jalandhar rejected the said application and placed Satnam's name under the Prior Approval Category (