Prayagraj, 18 October: The Allahabad High Court, quoting the Supreme Court’s decision in the Basu Yadav case, has said that mere registration of a criminal case or pending appeal cannot lead to refusal to issue or renew a passport.
Along with this, the court has directed the Regional Passport Officer, Lucknow, to consider issuing the passport to the petitioner and take a decision within six weeks.
This order has been given by the division bench of Justice MC Tripathi and Justice Prashant Kumar while disposing of the petition of Akash Kumar.
While arguing the petition, the counsel for the Government of India said that as per the police report, a criminal case has been registered against the petitioner. Show cause notice has been given to the petitioner but clarification has not been given yet. Which is waiting for.
The petitioner’s advocate said that under Section 155 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the police cannot investigate the NCR case unless the magistrate orders the police to investigate.
In the year 2020, FIR has been registered under section 323, 504. Under Section 468, if the Magistrate does not take cognizance within the stipulated period, then the NCR will become void.
The petitioner has not been convicted in any case nor has any criminal history other than this case.
The Supreme Court has said that issuance of a passport cannot be refused merely because a criminal case has been registered.
