The court established that pending criminal proceedings do not bar the consideration of a passport application, which must be evaluated based on the Passport Act.

ORDER

This Writ Petition has been filed seeking for a Writ of Mandamus, to direct the respondent to issue the passport to the petitioner by considering the petitioner's passport application with file number MA 1075524100323 dated 13.02.2024, within the time frame as fixed by this Court.

2. Mr.K.Gangadaran, learned Central Government Counsel, accepts notice on behalf of the respondent. In view of the consent expressed by the learned counsel for the parties, this writ petition is taken up for final disposal at the stage of admission itself.

3. The case of the petitioner is that, his passport got expired, thereby, he made an application seeking re-issuance of passport before the respondent on 13.02.2024 vide File No.MA1075524100323 and the same was returned in view of the criminal proceedings pending in C.C.No.1789 of 2023 on the file of learned V Metropolitan Magistrate Court at Egmore. Thereafter, he filed a petition in Crl.M.P.No.30171 of 2024 in C.C.No.1789 of 2023 before the trial court seeking no objection for issuing passport to him and the same is pending. Therefore, the petitioner has filed the above writ petition before this court for appropriate orders.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that, the petitioner is doing business in Digital Marketing, Digital Branding, Artificial Intelligence in Digital Marketing, for which, he needs a passport to travel. Further, he submitted that, the petitioner is an innocent and he has been falsely implicated in the above case without any iota of truth. Therefore, the learned counsel submitted that, it would suffice, if this Court issues a direction to the respondent to issue passport to the petitioner by considering his application vide File No.MA1075524100323 dated 13.02.2024, within a time frame that may be fixed by this Court.

5. Learned Central Government Counsel appearing for the respondent submitted that, since the trial is pending as against the petitioner, he is not entitled for re-issuance of passport and thereby, the respondent has returned the petitioner's application. However, the learned Central Government Counsel, on instructions, submitted that, the petitioner's passport application dated 13.02.2024 will be considered and appropriate orders will be passed by the respondent, in accordance with Passport Act and Rules, as expeditiously as possible.

6. Considering the limited request sought for by the learned counsel for the petitioner, this court, without going into the merits of the case, directs the respondent to consider the petitioner's passport application dated 13.02.2024 and pass appropriate orders, on merits and in accordance with Passport Act and Rules, within a period of four (4) weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.

7. With the above direction, this Writ Petition is disposed of. No costs.