New Delhi, Feb 20 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Friday issued notice to the central government on a plea by advocate Prashant Bhushan challenging the government's refusal to reissue him a passport with full validity of 10 years as criminal cases are pending against him.
Justice Rajiv Shakdher sought a response from the ministry of external affairs and the regional passport office, Ghaziabad, while posting the matter for March 16.
Advocate Pranav Sachdeva, appearing for Bhushan, told the court that merely because a criminal case pertaining to being part of an unlawful assembly is pending against him, the government denied him a passport with full validity.
Bhushan, also a founding member of India Against Corruption (IAC), had staged a protest in August 2012 against the coal scam. Though the protest was non-violent, the police had registered a few cases under section 144 of the CrPC for participating in an assembly which was declared unlawful, against the members of the IAC, including Bhushan. The cases are pending in Patiala House court, the plea said.
The advocate argued that the one-year restriction on reissuing the passport is "arbitrary, unreasonable and also discriminatory" and thus in violation of article 14 (equality before law) of the constitution.
Hearing the plea Justice Shakdher asked the Centre: "If someone holds a valid passport but against him some minor traffic violation case is filed, then can you stop subsequent reissue of his passport."
The court also noted that "only if a court impounds the passport or put restrictions on foreign travel, then only passport validity can be restricted".
As per the plea Bhushan had applied for renewal/reissue of the passport to the regional passport office June 26, 2014 and on the same day, as per procedure, his old passport was cancelled. The government had informed him that in order to get his passport renewed, he needs to first obtain a no objection certificate (NOC) from the concerned court where criminal cases are pending against him.
On Sep 2, 2014 he moved an application before the Metropolitan Magistrate (MM) at Patiala House Courts here seeking a NOC for the reissue of his passport, which was granted to him. However, the NOC did not specify the duration of validity of the passport.
On Sep 15 the government reissued the passport of Bhushan for a period of only one year instead of the full validity period of 10 years.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain appearing for the Centre cited an Aug 25, 1993 notification, saying "Bhushan's request for re-issue of passport for full validity cannot be acceded to unless the court concerned issues a fresh order in this regard".
The ASG argued that as per the notification a person (having a criminal case pending) who applies for issue or reissue of passport to first obtain a NOC from the court where the case is pending and that if the court does not lay down any time period for renewal, then a passport of only one year validity would be issued.
The passport issued to Bhushan from Sep 12, 2014 with a short validity of one year, is due to expire on Sep 11, 2015.
Beating Retreat: Beating the Retreat concludes with Shaan-o-Shaukat, armies will return to the barracks today
Beating Retreat Ceremony Latest Update: Like every year, this time the closing ceremony of Republic Day ended with great pomp. During this, President Ram Nath Kovind reached the venue of the ceremony
E-Waste Control: One charger for all electronic devices including smartphones, and tablets, will reduce e-waste
In the coming days, you will get a single charger for all electronic devices including smartphones, and tablets. A senior consumer ministry official said that the ministry has called a meeting of the
Captain Cool got angry: Mukesh did not bowl according to the field in the 20th over against SRH, Mahi went and explained
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has always been known for his calm nature. While captaining for the first time in IPL 2022, something happened to Mahi that he got furious with anger. This displeasure was seen
Survey completed on the third day in Gyanvapi: Hindu side claims - Baba was found inside, Muslim side said - nothing like this
The survey of the Gyanvapi campus in Varanasi was completed on the third day on Monday. The report will be submitted to the court tomorrow. When Dr. Sohanlal of the Hindu side came out after the
KGF 3: The time has come to decide Rocky Bhai's fate, know the biggest update on 'KGF 3' from Yash himself
South Indian actor Yash received a lot of love and appreciation for his performance in the action hit film 'KGF' directed by Prashanth Neel. Fans are eagerly waiting for the much-awaited sequel of
PM Modi will attend the post-budget webinar, and industrial, trade, and energy strategies will be discussed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in three post-budget webinars through video conferencing on Tuesday. The topics of the webinars include MSMEs (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises) and
Diljit Dosanjh: Diljit said- don't tease me, I don't do drug ads like Bollywood; gave a big challenge from the stage
Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh recently made headlines after he received a legal notice from the Telangana government. The notice warned him not to play songs that promote alcohol, drugs, or violence
Flood of dengue patients: Platelets start depleting suddenly; A few hours of delay can happen
Dengue cases are increasing. You must be wondering where, when, and how… we have not heard anything like this about dengue. Why are you scared? So take a look at these cities-
Worldwide concern about the increasing case of Coronavirus, do you know why the infection spread rapidly in China?
Last month, China removed all the stringent restrictions imposed in the country regarding the coronavirus. After which the number of infected started skyrocketing there. Lakhs of cases started coming
Bhansali made a big mistake in the trailer of 'Gangubai Kathiawadi'? The story of the film has opened!
Fans are eagerly waiting for Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgan's starrer film 'Gangubai Kathiawadi'. The film is going to release in theaters on January 25. The songs of Gangubai Kathiawadi and its trailer
