Person Guilty Of Offence Involving Moral Turpitude Can't Be Denied Passport If He Was Convicted More Than 5 Yrs Ago: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has held that as per Section 6 (2)(e) of the Passports Act of 1967, passport authority cannot refuse passport to a person held guilty of offence involving moral turpitude, if he has not been convicted within five years preceding the date of filing the passport application.In the facts of the case, the petitioner was convicted on December 31, 2015 for three years imprisonment, and passport application was filed on December 07, 2024. Justice Gopinath P. allowed the writ petition and ordered that passport authority shall consider his application for passport without being influenced by his prior conviction. “In the facts of the present case, the conviction was on 31.12.2015. The application for passport was filed on 07.12.2024. In the light of the above, I am of the view that the petitioner is entitled to succeed, as he has not been convicted during the period of 5 years preceding the date of the application.”The petitioner is a senior citizen whose application for Passport was not being processed since he was convicted under the Prevention of Corruption Act, IPC and was sentenced to three years imprisonment. The Petitioner was convicted on December 31, 2015 and his sentence was suspended on January 11, 2016. The Court noted that as per Section 6 (2)(e) of the Passports Act of 1967, passport shall be refused if the applicant has within five years preceding the application, has been convicted by a Court in India for an offence involving moral turpitude and sentenced to an imprisonment for not less than two years. In the facts of the case, the Court found that Section 6(2)(e) would apply since trial has already been concluded. Relying upon Punjab and Haryana High Court in Mohan Lal v. Union of India and others (2023), the Court stated thus, “Thus, it has been held that Section 6(2)(e) of the 1967 Act would be applicable to a case where the applicant has been convicted within five years preceding the date of application. The conviction should be for an offence involving moral turpitude and the sentence awarded must be not less than two years.”As such, the writ petition was allowed. Cousnel for Petitioner: Advocates Manas P Hameed, Ipsita Ojal, Rebin Vincent Gralan, AmaljithCounsel for Respondents: Senior Panel Counsel T C KrishnaCase Title: Abdul Azeez K P v The Regional Passport Officer, KozhikodeCase No: WP(C) NO. 45038 OF 2024Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Ker) 62Click here to Read/Download Order

Person Guilty Of Offence Involving Moral Turpitude Can't Be Denied Passport If He Was Convicted More Than 5 Yrs Ago: Kerala High Court

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