Passport Delay A Hurdle In Right To Travel; Police Must Finish Verifications In 4 Weeks : Allahabad High Court

To ensure efficiency and accountability in the issuance of passports, the Allahabad High Court recently directed that all police verification reports for passport applications must be completed and submitted within 4 weeks. A Bench of Justice Ajit Kumar and Justice Swarupama Chaturvedi mandated so as it noted that delays in this essential exercise are creating a hurdle in realization of the right to travel of accused, especially in cases where reissuance is sought for only one year. The division bench made the remarks while disposing of a writ petition concerning renewal of a passport. The Court said it has been observing that it is 'flooded' with pleas seeking directions for disposal of pending passport applications, even before any notice is issued by the Passport Office. In its 17-page order, the Bench also noted that passport seekers often approach the Court prematurely: "…passport seekers even do not wait for a notice from the passport office in the event of any issue regarding grant of passport application at times they even do not give reply to the notice and directly approach this Court for a direction". It stressed that if an application is delayed due to pendency of a criminal case, the applicant should first obtain the necessary no-objection/sanction/approval from the court concerned. Furthermore, referring to the Citizen's Charter (June 2025) issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, the Court highlighted that while an ordinary passport is expected to be issued within 30 working days and reissuance within seven working days, both timelines exclude the period taken for police verification. This, the Court said, shows that the MEA's expected time-line does not stipulate any limit for the police verification stage. Against this backdrop, the Bench emphasized that the police department shall ensure that all verification files pertaining to passport applications are processed with due diligence and completed within four weeks without undue delay (as per the time-frame prescribed by the Ministry of External Affairs). "Any delay in such administrative functions should be strictly avoided unless justified by exceptional circumstances. Delaying in police verification, which is an essential exercise for an accused, is creating hurdle in realization of the right to travel, specially in cases where reissuance of the passport is for a duration of one year", the bench further remarked. In its order, to streamline the entire process of issuance of a passport, the bench issued the following key directions Passport applicants, if they find the disposal of their applications to be delayed, should first reply to the notice If they find that their application for passport has remained pending for their implication in criminal case, they should first apply for necessary no objection/sanction/approval from court concerned, police or criminal law court, as the case may be. The passport office should also not linger on their matters as there may be urgency to a passport applicant. The concerned Regional Passport Officer in all circumstances where passport cannot be issued must inform the applicant regarding it within a month of submission of passport application As soon as proper no objection/sanction/approval is obtained and submitted, such officer should dispose of passport application finally within a further period of a month. The police in cases of application submitted for passport must submit its report within four weeks without undue delay. It may be noted that in this case, the HC also held if a competent criminal court grants a No Objection Certificate (NOC) or permission to travel abroad without specifying the duration for which the passport may be issued, the passport authority is justified in granting a passport valid for only one year. Case in briefThe petitioner (Rahimuddin) had earlier approached the High Court seeking issuance of a passport despite a pending criminal case under Section 447 IPC and Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984. The Court had disposed of that petition while directing him to seek permission/NOC from the competent criminal court. Subsequently, the CJM Court granted him an NOC on 10 October 2024. Following the NOC, the Regional Passport Office, Bareilly, issued a passport valid for one year (January 20, 2025 to January 19, 2026). However, the petitioner later sought renewal for a full ten-year period. He argued that once permission had been granted by the competent court, the statutory period prescribed under the Passport Act, 1967 should apply. The passport authority, however, contended that since the court order did not specify any duration for which the passport was to be issued, the validity was rightly restricted to one year in line with the Notification...

Passport Delay A Hurdle In Right To Travel; Police Must Finish Verifications In 4 Weeks : Allahabad High Court

Sparsh Upadhyay

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