Offence For Furnishing False Information U/S12(1)(b) Of Passports Act Is Attracted Even If Offender Is A Foreigner: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court held that the offence of furnishing false information for obtaining a passport under Section 12(1)(b) is attracted even if the person concerned is a foreign citizen. Justice V. G. Arun observed that when Section 3 of the Act which says that no person shall attempt to depart from India if he does not hold a valid passport or travel document includes under its ambit passport issued by other countries, any attempt for such departure without a valid passport or travel document will attract Section 12(1)(b) of the Act even if the passport concerned is issued by the foreign government.“Moreover, Section 12(1)(b) of the Act would apply even to foreign citizens if the provisions of Section 3 are contravened…..The above provision makes it abundantly clear that, for the purpose of the section, the term 'passport' includes the passport issued by the Government of a foreign country also. Being so, petitioner's attempt to depart from India without a valid passport or travel document, even if it is issued by a foreign Government is in contravention of Section 3 and would therefore attract Section 12(1)(b) of the Passports Act.”It was alleged that the petitioner in the case tried to travel to United Kingdom on a tampered British passport and without a valid Indian visa. It was found that some pages of his British passport were missing. Moreover, he overstayed in India for 303 days after his visa period expired. He was handed over to the immigration officers by the airlines. On further scrutiny, it was revealed that the petitioner arrived India on a Portugal passport. It is alleged that in further scrutiny, it was revealed that the petitioner has forged an Aadhar Card with entries different from those in his Indian Passport regarding his name, father's name and date of birth. Further, it was alleged that the petitioner obtained a second Indian passport with the changed name and details in 2015 which was renewed in 2016. The petitioner was booked for offences under Section 12(1)(b) (knowingly furnishes any false information or suppresses any material information for obtaining a passport, 12(1A) (a non-citizen holding a forged passport) of the Passports Act, Section 14A (penalty for entry in restricted areas etc.) and Section 14B (penalty for using forged passport) of the Foreigners Act.The version of the petitioner is that he was a person of Indian origin and had acquired Portugese citizenship. Thereafter, he cancelled his Indian Passport. Later, he acquired the citizenship of United Kingdom also. He submitted that he had no idea about the missing pages in the passport as he was using it for the first time after its renewal and the pages were probably omitted to be stapled or lost at the time of delivery. The instant case was instituted by the petitioner to quash the proceedings against him. He said that offences under Passport Act would not be attracted as he was not an Indian citizen and the conjoint reading of Section 1(2) and 2(b) of the Passports Act would show that the Act would apply only to citizens of India.The Court rejected this argument by reading the explanation to Section 3 where it was mentioned that the passport issued by a foreign country is also included in the word passport used in the section. The Court also said that the documents on record showed that the petitioner while being a foreign citizen obtained an Indian passport and it was valid upto year 2026. The Court opined that it was intriguing to note how a foreign citizen could obtain an Indian Passport and get it renewed within 1 year. The Court took the stand that since the petitioner was anyways holding a valid Indian passport, he cannot contend that the Passports Act will not apply to him.Section 14A will attract even if the entry was legal, if continued stay is without proper documentsThe petitioner had also contended that he overstayed his visa period inadvertently and he cannot be prosecuted under Section 14A as his entry into India was legal. The Court however said that as per the Foreigners Order, a person who is entering India on a visa should obtain a permit indicating the period during which he is staying. If the visa is valid for more than 180 days, the person is mandated under the Registration of Foreigners Rules to submit a report to the Registration within 2 weeks of expiry of the 180 days. Subsequent to the submission of the report, the Registration Officer will issue a certificate of registration which shall be valid for the rest of his stay. The Court held that therefore the offence under Section 14A(b) would attract as he was staying in without the valid documents and permit mandated under Foreigners Order and Registration of Foreigners Rules. The Court held that therefore even if the entry was valid, if the stay was without proper documents, it was an offence under Section 14A (b) would be attracted.“Going by the plain words of Section 14A, not only entry without permit, but remaining in an area after expiry ...

Offence For Furnishing False Information U/S12(1)(b) Of Passports Act Is Attracted Even If Offender Is A Foreigner: Kerala High Court

Manju Elsa Isac

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