Pending criminal proceedings do not bar passport renewal; authorities to process per Act, rules, notifications without routine court NOC; ordinarily 10-year validity; travel permission separate from renewal.

JUDGMENT:- [Per : RANJITSINHA RAJA BHONSALE, J]

1) The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Mahesh Kumar Agarwal Vs. Union of India & Anr reported in 2025 SCC OnLine SC 2887 has observed that:-

“2. Liberty, in our constitutional scheme, is not a gift of the State but its first obligation. The freedom of a citizen to move, to travel, to pursue livelihood and opportunity, subject to law, is an essential part of the guarantee under Article 21of the Constitution of India. The State may, where statute so provides, regulate or restrain that freedom in the interests of justice, security or public order but such restraint must be narrowly confined to what is necessary, proportionate to the object sought to be achieved, and clearly anchored in law. When procedural safeguards are converted into rigid barriers, or temporary disabilities are allowed to harden into indefinite exclusions, the balance between the power of the State and the dignity of the individual is disturbed, and the promise of the Constitution is put at risk.”

2) By this common Judgment, we intend to address the issue and make certain suggestions in the form of guidelines for renewal/re-issue of Passports to the citizens of India against whom criminal proceedings have been filed and are pending. In the recent past, we have come across with various matters, wherein the citizens by way of an application approach the concerned Court, in whose jurisdiction the criminal action/prosecution is initiated, to seek a NOC/permission to renew the passport. This is, irrespective of the fact whether cognizance is taken or not, the nature of offence alleged, the seriousness and gravity of the offence or the role/overt act assigned to the individual accused. We have noticed that, many a times the criminal proceedings are only filed, without notice or summons issued. In some cases even the cognizance of the criminal complaint/proceeding is not taken by the concerned criminal Court still the applicants/accused are required to make the application for NOC/permission to the concerned Court. This entails in unnecessary delay and inconvenience to the concerned Applicant and consumes significant judicial time of the Court.

3) By these Petitions, filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the Petitioners have inter alia sought/prayed for the following reliefs-

(i) Issue NOC to the passport authority issue the passport of the Petitioner for a period of 10 years, subject to the Petitioner satisfying other requirements under the Passports Act and Rules or allow the passport to be renewed.

(ii) Direct learned Trial Court to pass orders for renewal of the passports in a time bound manner

(iii) Allow the Petitioner to travel abroad with directions/conditions to furnish his detailed itinerary to the Trial Court.

4) Heard the respective Advocates appearing for the Petitioners, Mr. Amit Palkar, APP in Criminal Writ Petition No. 1788 of 2025 and Criminal Writ Petition No. 5554 of 2025 for Respondent No.1, Mr. Ajay Patil, APP in Criminal Writ Petition No. 5555 of 2025, Ms. Patil, SPP for Respondent No.2 in Criminal Writ Petition No. 1788 of 2025 and Ms. Manisha Jagtap for Respondent No. 2 in Criminal Writ