Passport Authorities Must Renew Passports for Ten Years Despite Pending Criminal Cases if No Contrary Court Order Exists

The petitioner applied for the renewal/re-issuance of his passport for a standard term of 10 years. However, the respondent authority refused to grant a 10-year renewal, citing the pendency of criminal proceedings against the petitioner

The petitioner is currently involved in a case where the High Court, in a separate application (Criminal Misc. Application No. 4676 of 2022), had previously directed that a chargesheet should not be filed without the Court's prior permission

The petitioner approached the High Court seeking a direction to the Passport Office to renew the document for the full 10-year period rather than the restricted 1-year period often applied in pending criminal matters

Whether the respondent authority is required to renew the petitioner's passport for a period of 10 years despite the pendency of criminal proceedings

Whether the Passport Authority has the jurisdiction to decide an applicant's right to travel abroad when criminal proceedings are pending

Section 6(2)(f) and Section 22 of the Passports Act, 1967, and Ministry of External Affairs’ GSR Notification 570(E) dated 25.08.1993, which governs the issuance of passports to citizens facing pending criminal proceedings

Narendra K. Ambwani v. Union of India (Writ Petition No. 361 of 2014), which clarified that if a Magistrate does not specify a restricted duration, qualifying applicants are entitled to a renewal for at least 10 years, and that the authority to restrict travel lies with the Trial Court, not the Passport Office

The court reasoned that while GSR Notification 570(E) provides for a one-year renewal if no specific period is mentioned by a court, this created an ambiguity when read alongside the general Passport Rules

Adopting the reasoning from Narendra K. Ambwani, the court held that the Passport Authority lacks the legal mandate to determine an accused person's right to travel; that power is vested exclusively in the Trial Court, which can impose specific conditions for departure from India

Since the petitioner’s criminal proceedings resulted in a stay on filing a chargesheet and no specific prohibitory order on the duration of the passport was cited, the court determined that the Petitioner is entitled to a standard 10-year renewal

The court directed the respondent authority to decide the petitioner’s application and renew/re-issue the passport for a period of 10 years within four weeks. The holding is subject to the clarification that the petitioner must still seek specific permission from the concerned Trial Court before undertaking any actual travel abroad, at which point the Trial Court may impose necessary conditions