The Passport Authority must issue a Police Clearance Certificate if a court permits a passport holder involved in a criminal case to travel abroad.

JUDGMENT

The prayers in this Writ Petition (Criminal) filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India are as follows:

“i. Issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, direction or order directing the second respondent to issue police clearance certificate to the petitioner based on Exhibit P2 application as expeditiously as possible and within a time frame to be fixed by this Honourable Court, so as to secure the ends of justice...

ii. This Hon’ble Court may be pleased to dispense with filing of the English translation of Malayalam documents produced in the writ petition, so as to secure the ends of justice.

iii.

And Such other relief’s as this Hon’ble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case.

2. The petitioner is the holder of an Indian passport.

He is accused No.4 in Crime No.127/2025 of Cherpu Police Station. He applied for seeking permission to go abroad before the jurisdictional Court. The learned Sessions Judge, as per order dated 03.11.2025 in Crl.M.P.No.5761 of 2025 (Ext.P4), permitted him to go abroad. The petitioner now seeks a direction to respondent No.2 (the Regional Passport Officer, Ernakulam) to issue a customised Police Clearance Certificate based on Ext.P4 order.

3. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned DSGI.

4. The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that as the petitioner was permitted to go abroad by the jurisdictional Court, he is entitled to a Police Clearance Certificate (PCC). It is submitted that respondent No.2, the passport officer concerned, is the competent authority to issue a Police Clearance Certificate as per the Passport Manual.

5. The learned DSGI, relying on Chapter 14 of the Passport Manual, submitted that the Police Clearance Certificate as specified in the Manual cannot be issued to the petitioner, as he is an accused in a criminal case. The learned DSGI submitted that the competent authority can only issue a certificate stating that the petitioner is an accused in the criminal case referred to above. It is further submitted that the Police Clearance Certificate will contain the fact that the petitioner was permitted to go abroad.

6. Going by Chapter 14 of the Passport Manual, the Police Clearance Certificate is not strictly a passport service. An application for a Police Clearance Certificate shall be accepted only from an applicant holding a valid Indian passport. A Police Clearance Certificate is required by many foreign Governments for considering applications for residence status, employment, long-term visas, or immigration.

7. Appendix 16 of the Passport Manual provides the specimen PCC format for Indian passport holders, which is extracted below:

APPENDIX-16 Specimen PCC format for Indian Passport holders (to be issued on official letter head)

“It is certified that there is no adverse information against Mr./Mrs./Miss …............, holder of Indian Passport No. …........... issued at …....... on …..... which would render him/her ineligible for [purpose]

…............................ for (name of the country).”

This PCC is not valid for any other purpose or country.

Rubber Stamp of office of issue Signature of Passport Authority

8. As per Clause (f) of sub-section (2) of Section 6 of the Passports Act , 1967, the passport authority shall refuse to issue a passport or travel document for visiting any foreign country on the ground that proceedings in respect of an offence alleged to have been committed by the applicant are pending before a criminal Court in India. As per notification dated 25.08.1993 i