The court affirmed the necessity for applicants with pending criminal cases to seek no objection certificates from relevant courts, highlighting the importance of flexibility in applying passport regulations.

ORDER :

Learned counsel Sri T.Sharath appears for the petitioner.

Sri N.Bhujanga Rao, learned Deputy Solicitor General of India, appears for respondents No.1 to 4.

2. The petitioner is under H-1B visa working as a Software Engineer in Meta Platforms INC at California, United States of America (USA), whose passport bearing No.Z3501823 in File No.BN2079075529516 issued on 20.01.2016 is going to expire on 19.01.2026. According to the petitioner, she has been implicated in a criminal case under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 ( IPC ), and Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, as accused No.6 by the estranged sister-in-law i.e., wife of her brother in First Information Report (FIR) No.192/2024 dated 07.03.2024 in which a charge sheet has been filed by the police upon investigation. The matter is pending before the learned XVII Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Nampally, Hyderabad, being C.C.No.1188 of 2025. The petitioner contends that during the period of the offence alleged, she was all along in USA in connection with her job. Without proper investigation, she has been shown as accused No.6 (absconding). No such summons, warrant or attachment or proclamation has ever been served under the relevant provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.P.C), upon the petitioner as she was all along in a foreign country during the alleged period of offence.

3. The instant FIR and charge sheet would attract the provisions of Section 6(2) of the Passports Act, 1967, in particular, clause (f). Section 6 prescribes that the passport authority shall refuse to issue a passport or travel document for visiting any foreign country on the enumerated grounds under sub-section (2) if the proceedings in respect of an offence alleged to have been committed by the applicant are pending before a criminal court in India. It is submitted that the Office Memorandum dated 10.10.2019 has been issued on the subject of the issue of passports to applicants against whom criminal cases are pending before a court of law in India. It refers to GSR 570(E) dated 25.08.1993, which provides that in case an applicant is an accused in connection with a criminal case pending in India, the passport could be issued for a short validity period of one year or for the period specified by the Court where the criminal case is pending. Clause (ii) of GSR 570(E) does not make any distinction between matrimonial offences and other serious or heinous offences. In the case of the petitioner, on account of filing of charge sheet in respect of an offence registered under Section 498A of IPC and Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, without even the petitioner being in the country during the period of offence, renewal of her passport could not be restricted to a period of one year, which in turn could have serious, adverse consequences and loss of employment. In ordinary cases, the passport is issued for a period of ten years as per Rule 12 of the PASSPORT RULES , 1980. Faced with this predicament, the petitioner has approached this Court for a declaration that the instructions in the notification dated 25.08.1993 are unreasonable, discriminatory and offending Article 14 of the Constitution of India. The petitioner has also filed a criminal petition under Section 482 of Cr.P.C for quashing of the charge sheet which is pending before the learned Single Bench of this Court. The petitioner has, however, not approached the concerned criminal court where the case is pending. Therefore, it is prayed that the impugned provisions of the GSR 570(E) dated 25.08.1993 may be struck down so that the petitione