The right to travel abroad is a facet of personal liberty under Article 21; therefore, pendency of criminal proceedings does not absolutely bar passport issuance, provided the individual remains amenable to the court's jurisdiction through necessary permissions.

Prayer:-

Writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for issuance of a writ of Mandamus, directing the 1st respondent to reissue the passport to the petitioner by considering the petitioners application dated 21.11.2025 vide Application Ref No. 25-1066276604 within the frame as fixed by the court.

ORDER

The above Writ Petition has been filed for the following reliefs:-

“directing the 1st respondent to reissue the passport to the petitioner by considering the petitioners application dated 21.11.2025 vide Application Ref No. 25-1066276604 within the frame as fixed by the court.”

2. The petitioner had filed an application on 21.11.2025 for the re-issuance of his passport. Since the respondent had not processed the same, he sent a representation dated 18.12.2025 requesting the 1st respondent to process the application. As there was no response to the representation, the petitioner has approached this Court seeking a mandamus directing the 1st respondent to process his application.

3. The learned Government Advocate appearing on behalf of the 2nd respondent would submit that a case in Crime No. 1030 of 2012 is pending against the petitioner on the file of the E-2 Royapettah Police Station, Mylapore, Chennai.

4. Heard the rival submissions of the counsels and this Court also perused the records.

5. The reason for not issuing the passport is attributed to the pendency of the criminal proceedings pending against the petitioner in Crime No.1030 of 2012. In a recent judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Mahesh Kumar Agarwal Vs Union of India and another arising out of SLP(C) No.17769 of 2025, the Hon’ble Supreme Court was considering a similar case of passport which was not being granted on account of the fact that the appellant therein was an accused in a case being investigated by NIA. The learned Judges after taking into consideration the statutory provisions and notifications relating to the issue on hand and after extracting the Passport Act and Rules of the G.O., has observed as follows :

“8. From a conjoint reading of Sections 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the Passports Act, a structured scheme emerges. Section 5 is the starting point. It prescribes the manner in which an application for a passport is to be made and requires the passport authority, subject to the other provisions of the Act, to decide the application by issuing or refusing the passport through a written order. Section 6 qualifies that power and sets out, in an exhaustive manner, the grounds on which the passport authority shall refuse to issue a passport or travel document. Sub-section (1) deals with refusal of endorsements for particular countries. Sub-section (2) governs refusal of issue itself and again begins with the words “subject to the other provisions of this Act”. It obliges the authority to refuse issue where any of the situations in clauses (a) to (i) are present, including the pendency of criminal proceedings before a court in India under clause (f). Section 7 then addresses the duration of a passport. It provides that a passport shall continue in force for such period as may be prescribed, but also permits the authority, for reasons to be communicated in writing to the applicant, to issue a passport for a shorter period in an appropriate case. Section 8 deals with the converse situation where a passport has already been issued for a shorter period. It permits extension of such a passport, but expressly states that the provisions of the Act shall apply to such extension as they apply to the issue of the passport, thereby linking an extension back to the same statutory conditions and limitations that govern original i