SRI U M HAIDAR vs STATE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR
- Court
- Karnataka High Court
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NC: 2026:KHC:30068
CRL.P No. 12734 of 2023
HC-KAR
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU
R
TH
DATED THIS THE 18 DAY OF JUNE, 2026
BEFORE
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.NAGAPRASANNA
CRIMINAL PETITION NO. 12734 OF 2023
BETWEEN:
SRI. U.M. HAIDAR,
S/O ABOOBKAR,
AGED ABOUT 60 YEARS,
R/O NO.Q-4326, 110/24,
FLAT NO 601, FALNIR,
FLAMG DIAMOND,
MANGALORE 575001.
WORKING AT:
TRAVEL AGENCY,
KUDAMANE HOUSE, UPPENA ANGADI,
PUTTUR TALUK.
…PETITIONER
Digitally
signed by
PADMAVATHI
B K
Location: High
Court of
Karnataka
(BY SRI. PARAMESHWARAPPA M V, ADVOCATE)
AND:
1. STATE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR,
ASSISTANT CIRCLE POLICE
INSPECTOR, MANGALORE EAST
POLICE STATION, KADARIHILLS,
MANGALORE.
2. THE REGIONAL PASSPORT OFFICER,
MANGALORE DIVISION,
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CRL.P No. 12734 of 2023
HC-KAR
MANGALORE.
…RESPONDENTS
(BY SRI. B.N JAGADEESHA, SPP-I FOR R-1;
SRI. H. SHANTHI BHUSHAN, DSGI FOR R-2)
THIS CRL.P IS FILED U/S.482 CR.P.C TO QUASH THE
PROCEEDINGS FILED BY THE RESPONDENT IN
C.C.NO.168/2021 PENDING BEFORE THE II ADDITIONAL CIVIL
JUDGE AND C.J.M. AT MANGALURU AS PER ANNEXURE-A TO C,
BY ALLOWING THE PETITION AND ETC.
THIS PETITION, COMING ON FOR ADMISSION, THIS DAY,
ORDER WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER:
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.NAGAPRASANNA
ORAL ORDER
The petitioner-accused No.3 is at the doors of this Court
calling in question the proceedings in C.C.No.168/2021
registered for offences punishable under sections 465, 468,
471, 420 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 12B of the
Passports Act, 1967.
2. Heard Sri.Parameshwarappa M.V., learned counsel
appearing for the petitioner, Sri.B.N.Jagadeesha, learned SPP-I
appearing for respondent No.1, Sri.H.Shanthi Bhushan, learned
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CRL.P No. 12734 of 2023
HC-KAR
DSGI appearing for respondent No.2 and have perused the
material on record.
3. Facts in brief, germane, are as follows:
3.1. The petitioner is said to be physically disabled and
runs a travel agency. He therefore functions as a travel agent.
In the capacity of him being a travel agent, he is said to have
facilitated police verification for the purpose of renewal of
passport. The facilitation comes to the knowledge of the
complainant-constable who had approved the police verification
pursuant to which, several persons had got their passport
renewed. The gaining of knowledge of the accused No.1 whose
verification also was cleared pursuant to the facilitation by the
present petitioner, registers the subject complaint. It is on the
allegation that one Sri.Ibrahim Khalil-the accused No.1 is the
most wanted man by the Andhra Pradesh Anti-terrorist Squad.
His passport also is facilitated to be recovered by generating
the applications or otherwise through the agency that the
petitioner held. It is then the crime is registered but the
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CRL.P No. 12734 of 2023
HC-KAR
petitioner was not drawn as an accused at the time of
registration of the crime.
3.2. The police conduct investigation and then file a
charge sheet. Filing of the charge sheet is what has driven the
petitioner-accused No.3 into the web of crime in the present
proceedings.
4. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner
submits that the petitioner is a bonafide travel agent. He has
only facilitated the applications that come before him for the
purpose of generating a police verification to the hands of the
State and consequential renewal of several persons including
the accused No.1. Therefore, it is his submission that no fault
can be found with his bonafide action of the facilitation of
renewal of passport.
,
5. Per contra the learned Deputy Solicitor General of
nd
India Sri.H.Shanti Bhushan appearing for the 2 respondent-
Regional Passport office would refute the submission in
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contending that the petitioner runs a travel agent. His address
is fake and for 15 applications, the same address where the
travel agency is located is indicated in all those 15 applications
of the 15 passports which he seeks to renew and not those
applicants of passports. Therefore, would submit that he has
facilitated alleged terrorist who is wanted by the Andhra
Pradesh Anti-terrorist Squad also to get a passport contrary to
law. He would submit that this Court cannot interdict the
proceedings at this stage. It is for the petitioner to come out
clean in a full-blown trial.
6. Learned State Public Prosecutor Sri.B.N.Jagadeesh
would on verification of the records would submit and endorse
what the learned DSGI would submit, as the police constable
who had done the verification work of 15 applications that
generated from the travel house of the petitioner are all under
scrutiny, as it is a clear case where the petitioner has played
fraud in getting the police verification done.
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CRL.P No. 12734 of 2023
HC-KAR
7. I have given my anxious consideration to the
submissions made by the respective learned counsel and have
perused the material on record.
8. The afore-narrated facts are largely beyond the pale
of controversy. They stand, in substantial measure, admitted
and are borne out by the record. Equally undisputed is the role
attributed to the petitioner. It is also a matter of record that
the petitioner’s name did not surface at the stage of
registration of the crime. The crime, at its inception, did not
cast even a shadow of suspicion upon the petitioner. However,
the complexion of the matter altered during the course of
investigation. Upon completion of investigation and filing of the
charge sheet, the petitioner’s role emerges with considerable
clarity. The summary of the charge sheet, as reflected in
column No.17, reads as follows:
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9. What, then, is the precise role attributed to the
petitioner? The material on record would indicate that the
petitioner is the proprietor of a travel agency. Acting in such
capacity, he is alleged to have furnished his own address in as
many as fifteen passport applications, portraying the same as
though they were the genuine residential addresses of the
respective applicants seeking renewal of passports. It is on the
strength of such applications facilitated by the petitioner that
police verification was undertaken, ultimately resulting in
renewal of passports for those applicants, including one
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Ibrahim Khaleel, arrayed as accused No.1, who is stated to be
a person wanted by the Andhra Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad
for alleged terrorist activities.
10. The allegation, therefore, is not one of mere clerical
facilitation or routine procedural assistance. The gravity of the
accusation lies in the consequence of the petitioner’s acts. By
facilitating the clearance of applications founded on allegedly
fabricated residential credentials, the petitioner is said to
have enabled the renewal of a passport in favour of a
person suspected of activities inimical to national
security. Such allegations, if ultimately established in
trial, transcend ordinary criminal misconduct and enter
the realm of conduct prejudicial to the security and
sovereignty of the Nation.
11. Therefore, the petitioner cannot seek refuge merely
under the plea of physical disability, ill-health, or the assertion
that he functioned only as a bona fide travel agent processing
paperwork for clients. Such pleas, howsoever sympathetic,
cannot eclipse the seriousness of the allegations. If the
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petitioner, knowingly or otherwise, became an
instrument in the chain of acts that facilitated identity
verification and travel documentation of a person alleged
to be involved in terrorist activities, the matter demands
full judicial scrutiny.
12. A travel agent who merely performs lawful clerical
functions stands on one footing; a travel agent who becomes a
conduit for the creation or use of fabricated credentials stands
on an altogether different pedestal. Whether the petitioner
acted with knowledge, intent, or culpable negligence is a
matter that can only be tested in the trial. At this stage, the
material is sufficient to require the petitioner to stand trial and
vindicate his innocence in accordance with law.
13. The petitioner, therefore, must face trial and
come out clean, if indeed he is innocent. His disability,
health condition, or personal circumstances, though
deserving of human sympathy, cannot become grounds
to truncate prosecution where allegations touch upon
acts potentially adverse to national interest. When the
allegation concerns facilitation of documentation in
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favour of a person suspected of terrorist links, the issue
ceases to be one of private criminality and assumes
larger public significance.
14. In the entire episode, the role of the police constable
who cleared verification of all fifteen applications routed
through the petitioner also assumes grave significance. The
conduct of the said police constable cannot escape judicial
scrutiny. If verification was granted without proper field inquiry
or due diligence, such dereliction is not a mere administrative
lapse; it may well amount to a serious breach of public duty
with far-reaching consequences.
15. The said constable, therefore, cannot be permitted to
go scot-free. Learned State Public Prosecutor would submit that
sanction to prosecute the said police constable has already
been sought and is presently pending consideration before the
competent authority. If such a proposal is indeed awaiting
consideration, it becomes imperative for the State to process
the same with promptitude, bearing in mind the observations
made herein.
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16. Any individual - whether a private citizen,
intermediary, or public servant - who, by act of
commission or omission, acts against the interest of the
Nation must be brought to book. National security is not
imperiled only by those who directly engage in unlawful
acts; it is equally endangered by those who facilitate,
enable, or negligently permit such acts to occur. The law
must therefore reach every link in the chain.
17. Finding no merit in the petition, the petition stands
dismissed.
It is made clear that the observations made during the
course of this order are only for the purpose of consideration of
the case of the petitioner under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. and
the same would not bind or influence further proceedings
against the petitioner.
Sd/-
(M.NAGAPRASANNA)
JUDGE
CBC
List No.: 2 Sl No.: 42