JUDGMENT

The petitioner was issued with Ext.P2 passport on 2.6.2002.

The said passport was renewed for a period from 1.5.2012 to

30.4.2022. The copy of the relevant page of the passport is produced as Ext.P3. The petitioner has applied for renewal of the said passport. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner is an accused in C.C No.572/2005 pending before the Court of Judicial first Class Magistrate-III, Thiruvananthapuram which is now re-filed as C.C No.1280/2012. The counsel further submits that the application of the petitioner for renewal of passport is not considered citing the pendency of the said criminal case. It is also submitted that the VISA of the petitioner would expire on

28.2.2022 and if the passport is not renewed, the petitioner will lose his job abroad.

2. The Passports Act, 1967 provides for the issue of passports and travel documents, to regulate the departure from India of citizens of India and for other persons and for matters incidental or ancillary thereto. Section 5 of the Passports Act deals with applications for passports and travel documents and Section 6 deals with refusal of passports, travel documents etc. and Clause (f) of sub-section (2) of Section 6 provides that, the passport authority shall refuse to issue a passport or travel document for visiting any foreign country in case the proceedings in respect of an offence alleged to have been committed by the applicant are pending before a criminal court in India.

3. As per GSR 570 (E) Notification dated 25.08.1993, the Government of India, Ministry of External Affairs in exercise of powers conferred by clause (a) Section 22 of the Passports Act, 1967 has exempted citizens of India against whom proceedings in respect of an offence alleged to have been committed by them are pending before a Criminal Court in India and who produces orders from the Court concerned permitting them to depart from India, from the operation of the provisions of clause (f) of sub-section (2) of Section 6 of the Passports Act subject to the following conditions namely:-

“(a) the passport to be issued to every such citizen shall be issued- (i). for the period specified in order of the court referred to above, if the court specifies a period for which the passport has to be issued; or (ii). if no period either for the issue of the passport or for the travel abroad is specified in such order, the passport shall be issued for a period of one year;. (iii). if such order gives permission to travel abroad for a period less than one year, but does not specify the period validity of the passport, the passport shall be issued for one year; or (iv). if such order gives permission to travel abroad for a period exceeding one year, and does not specify the validity of the passport, then the passport shall be issued for the period of travel abroad specified in the order.

(b) any passport issued in terms of (a) (ii) and (a) (iii) above can be further renewed for one year at a time, provided the applicant has not traveled abroad for the period sanctioned by the court; and provided further that, in the meantime, the order of the court is not cancelled or modified;

(c) any passport issued in terms of (a) (i) above can be further renewed only on the basis of a fresh court order specifying a further period of validity of the passport or specifying a period for travel abroad;

(d) the said citizen shall give an undertaking in writing to the passport issuing authority that he shall, if required by the court concerned, appear before it at any time during the continuance in force of the passport so issued.”

4. This Court, in Thadevoose Sebastian v . The Regional Passport Office and another [2021 (5) KHC 625: 2021 (5) KLT 531: ILR 2021 (4) Ker. 453], on a consideration of GSR 570 (E) Notification, the provisions of the Passports Act and various decisions on the subject, obse