Decade Passed But Police Unable To Collect Incriminating Material: Kerala HC Grants Relief To Woman Booked For Obtaining Passport On False Docs

The Kerala High Court recently quashed the proceedings against a woman accused of traveling abroad in violation of the provisions of the Indian Passport Act, 1962. 

The petitioner was alleged to have furnished false documents to procure the passport, and crime had thus been registered against her in the year 2014. Thereafter, pursuant to her application, she was granted permission to travel abroad for a period of five years by the Magistrate in 2021. 

Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V., while quashing the proceedings against the petitioner, observed that the police had not been able to collect the materials linking the petitioner with the crime, despite the passage of a decade. 

"The petitioner's rights to travel abroad are being impeded by the pendency of the crime. She is a mother of two children and her contention is that the pendency of the UN report is impeding her ability to secure better employment as the reference to the crime in the order passed by the learned Magistrate deters her prospective employers from accommodating her in a better job", the Court noted.

The petitioner had been working as a housemaid in Dubai, prior to the registration of crime against her under the Passport Act. Advocate Sreeraj M.D. submitted on behalf of the petitioner that the petitioner's attempts for getting viable employment abroad were defeated due to the pendency of the criminal proceedings against her. 

The Senior Public Prosecutor Vipin Narayan submitted that investigation had been conducted in the matter, and a report was submitted before the Judicial First Class Magistrate, Kollam. It was stated in the report that although repeated requests were made to the Foreigners Regional Registration Offices (FRRO) to make documents available showing that the petitioner had traveled overseas through the Bombay Airport, no such documents were received. It was thus submitted that the investigation shall be reopened and suitable report shall be submitted to the Magistrate as and when materials were obtained to substantiate the case. 

The Deputy Solicitor General of India however contended that the Station House Officer had not made any such requests to the FRRO for getting the documents with respect to the petitioner's travel from Mumbai at any point. 

The Court noted that Magistrate had granted permission to the petitioner to travel abroad for a period of five years, subject to several other conditions. 

The Court was of the view that the pendency of the report before the Magistrate shall stand in the way of the petitioner in securing better employment overseas, and that her right to travel abroad was being impeded due to the pendency of the case. 

"If the final report had been laid before the court, the petitioner could have exhausted her remedies in accordance with law. More pertinently, the petitioner has no role to play on the failure of the investigating officer in submitting a positive report. In that view of the matter, I am satisfied that the petitioner has made out a good case for interference," the Court observed. 

The plea was thus allowed. 

 Advocate Mini Gopinathan also appeared in the present case. 

Case Title: Minimol v. State of Kerala & Ors. 

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Ker) 412 

Case Number: CRL.MC NO. 2661 OF 2023

Click Here To Read/Download The Order