The main legal point established in the judgment is the interpretation of the Indian Passport Act provisions, particularly Section 6(2)(f) and Section 22, and the necessity of obtaining a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the concerned court for individuals with pending criminal cases in order to obtain a passport for specific purposes.

1. Heard.

2. In the instant writ petition, the petitioner has sought for a direction to the Regional Passport Officer, Lucknow to issue a passport (file no. LK3061392924817) to the petitioner as he intends to go on Haj pilgrimage in order to perform religious obligation.

3. According to learned Counsel for the petitioner, the petitioner is a resident of Village-Chanaini, Post-Bankasahi, P.S.-Nawabganj, District-Bahraich, who in order to perform religious obligation applied for issuance of a passport in the year 2017 but it has not been issued as yet on the ground that as per police online remark, a court case has been registered against him and the trial is still pending.

4. Learned Counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the remark is baseless as Case Crime No. 168/86 (State Vs. Matbar Khan & Others) under Sections 323, 149, 147, 504, 506(2) IPC, P.S. Nawabganj, District-Bahraich, which was falsely registered against the petitioner ended in acquittal and there is no other criminal case pending against him. It has also been urged that Section 6(2)(f) of the Indian Passport Act is contrary to the spirit of Article 14 of the Constitution. In these circumstances denial of passport is wholly illegal and unjustified.

5. On the contrary, learned Counsel for the respondents has urged that the petitioner has not disclosed in his passport application about another case i.e. Case Crime No. 16/91 under Section 379 IPC & 4/10 Forest Act, District-Bahraich, wherein a charge-sheet was filed against him before the court having jurisdiction on 24th May, 1991.

6. Refuting the above assertions of the respondent, learned Counsel for the petitioner has submitted that he is not aware about the pendency of the aforesaid case as neither he was summoned by the court nor had he faced trial in the said case. According to him, the police has submitted adverse report under some wrong impression.

7. We have examined the submissions of learned counsel for the parties and gone through the record.

8. The grounds for refusal of passports and travel documents are specified in the Passports Act, 1867.As per Section 6(2)(f) the issuance of a passport can be refused if proceedings in respect of a criminal offence alleged to have been committed by the applicant are pending before a criminal court in India. Clauses (f) and (g) of Section 6 are relevant to the context, which read thus:

"(2) Subject to the other provisions of this Act, the passport authority shall refuse to issue a passport or travel document for visiting any foreign country under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 5 on any one or more of the following grounds, and on no other ground, namely:--

(a) x x x x x x x x

(b) x x x x x x x x

(c) x x x x x x x x

(d) x x x x x x x x

(e) x x x x x x x x

(f) that proceedings in respect of an offence alleged to have been committed by the applicant are pending before a criminal court in India;

(g) that a warrant or summons for the appearance, or a warrant for the arrest, of the applicant has been issued by a court under any law for the time being in force or that an order prohibiting the departure from India of the applicant has been made by any such court;

(h) x x x x x x x x

(i) x x x x x x x x."

9. Undisputedly, the Central Government has the power to grant exemption from the application of provisions of Passports Act. Section 22 of the Passports Act reads 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...."

10. In exercise of the aforesaid po