Accused not required to present proof of travel to get Passport NOC: Jammu & Kashmir High Court

The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court recently said that for obtaining a no objection certificate (NOC) from the trial court for passport, it is not necessary for a citizen to demonstrate that he has a pressing need for foreign travel [Zahoor Ahmad Pahalwan V/s UT of J&K].Justice Sanjay Dhar was dealing with a case in which a trial court had rejected the plea of an accused for grant of NOC for passport over lack of documentary proof to show that he was required to travel abroad in connection with his businessThe Court said that a citizen has a right to hold a passport even without the requirement of foreign travel. It, thus, called the trial court's reasoning specious."Therefore, for obtaining passport or NOC, it is not necessary for a citizen to demonstrate before the court or before the Passport Authority that he has some pressing need for travelling abroad. Since a citizen has a right to hold a passport, as such, even without his need for traveling abroad, he is entitled to hold a passport. Thus, the reasoning adopted by the learned trial court that the petitioner has failed to produce the documentary proof with regard to the necessity of his foreign travel, is contrary to the legal position," the Court ruled..The petitioner Zahoor Ahmad Pahalwan, who is facing trial in a corruption case, had earlier sought an NOC from the trial court to obtain a passport for performing Haj pilgrimage. The special judge had then granted him an NOC on February 24 to obtain a one-year short-validity passport.After performing Haj, Pahalwan applied again seeking a five-year passport. However, the trial court rejected his request, calling it premature since the earlier NOC was valid until February 23, 2026, and holding that he failed to show documentary proof of any business-related foreign travel..However, the High Court ruled that a criminal court, while considering an application for grant of NOC, has to only examine whether the accused, if allowed to travel abroad, would be available to face the trial. No other factor should influence the decision of the criminal court while considering an application for grant of NOC in favour of an accused who intends to obtain a passport/travel document, it said."It is true that NOC granted in favour of the petitioner is going to expire in the month of February 2026, but since the petitioner has a right to hold a valid passport, he is also entitiled to get his passport renewed for further period because the date of expiry of his passport is approaching," the Court added..Accordingly, the Court set aside the trial court order and remanded the matter for fresh consideration..Advocate Saqib Shabir appeared for the petitioner.Govt Advocate Ilyas Laway appeared for the respondents.[Read Judgment].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.