HARGOVAN MOTIBHAI RABARI Vs. REGIONAL PASSPORT OFFICER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS petition, under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, has been preferred with the following prayers: -

(2.) BRIEFLY stated, the facts of the case are that the Regional Passport Officer, Ahmedabad, issued a Passport to the petitioner in the year 1997, which was valid for a period of ten years. The said Passport expired in the year 2007. The petitioner applied for issuance of a fresh Passport which has been issued on 15.11.2007. The said Passport was valid for a period of ten years, and is to expire on 14.11.2017. Meanwhile, the petitioner received letter dated 14.03.2008 from the respondent - - Regional Passport Officer, Ahmedabad, directing him to surrender the Passport, as a criminal offence under the provisions of Sections 307, 325, 124 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against him vide C.R. -I No.202/1999 at Sola Police Station, in respect of which Sessions Case No.90 of 2000 is pending before the learned Sessions Judge (Ahmedabad Rural). A cross criminal complaint filed by the petitioner against the rival group is also pending. According to the respondent, these details were not mentioned by the petitioner in the application for issuance of a fresh Passport in the year 2007, necessitating issuance of the above -mentioned letter. The petitioner surrendered the Passport to the respondent -authority on 09.04.2008. By letter dated 08.02.2010, the petitioner has been informed that his file has been closed due to non -compliance of the conditions mentioned in letter dated 14.03.2008. The conditions, interalia stipulate that the petitioner should furnish a certified copy of the Court judgment if the case is decided, or the permission of the Court, permitting him to go out of India. The petitioner has also been directed to pay a penalty of Rs.5,000/ -. It is in this background that the petitioner has approached this Court, by making the prayers reproduced hereinabove.

(3.) I have heard Mr.Dhaval N.Vakil, learned advocate for the petitioner, Mr.Y.V.Vaghela, learned Central Government Standing Counsel for the respondent and perused the averments made in the petition and the documents annexed thereto.