The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has held that the reissue/renewal of passport should be treated by the Passport Officer in the same matter as the issuance of a fresh passport, and a person against whom a criminal case is pending should get prior permission from the court concerned for reissue/renewal of passport.
A full Bench of Justices G. Jayachandran, S. Srimathy, and K.K. Ramakrishnan was answering the question, ‘Whether the re-issue/renewal of the passport has to be treated by the Passport Officer in the same manner as the issuance of a fresh passport, or simpliciter a case of renewal?’
The court said the power to re-issue or renew a passport after expiry of its tenure is traceable to Section 5 of the Passports Act. The restrictions contained in Section 6(2) (f) of the Passport Act apply not only to fresh applications, but also to re-issuance/renewal. The Act, which provides the procedures and the conditions for issuance of passport afresh and for renewal of passport, does not make any differentiation in respect of vital conditions, particularly the requirement of clearance when the applicant is facing criminal proceedings in a criminal court in India.
The court pointed out that from the scheme of the Passports Act, Passports Rules, GSR 570 (E) dated 25.08.1993, and OM dated 10.10.2019, it is clear that persons facing criminal proceedings are not absolutely disentitled to a passport.
