Reissue MP Karti Chidambaram passport with extended validity: Madras High Court to passport authority

The Madras High Court recently directed the regional passport authority to reissue the passport of Member of Parliament Karti Chidambaram with an extended validity [Karti P Chidambaram v. The Regional Passport Office]..Justice M Govindaraj found the action of the passport authority to be in violation of the principles of natural justice and not sustainable in law.“Therefore, in the considered opinion of the court, impugned action of the respondent shortening of the period of validity from 05.03.2024 to 04.03.2022 in violation of Section 7; without taking recourse to Section 10; without recording reasons there for and in Violation of Principles of Natural Justice is not sustainable in law and accordingly, the same is set aside,” the Court held..Chidambaram had sought an additional booklet for his passport. However, the respondents informed him that as per the new regulations, validity of a passport could not be extended manually, and required the issue of a fresh booklet.Further, they said that in such a scenario, validity of a new passport would be determined independently without considering the validity of the old passport.According to the respondents, when a criminal case was pending against Chidambaram, the authorities under the Passports Act were empowered to shorten the validity of the passport to one year..The Court, while examining the exercise of such a power, noted that it was necessary for the authority to record in writing that in the opinion of the Central government, it was necessary in public interest to exercise the said power.It was pointed out that Sections 7 and 10 were relevant provisions that dealt with the controversy before the Court.“This provision mandates adherence of principles of natural justice...and for issuing the same for a shorter period it is mandatory to record reasons and communicate the same," the Court noted..Justice Govindaraj further reasoned that the authority did not produce any material to show that it was compelled to take action against Chidambaram. Thus, the Court stated, “In that event the exercise of power without taking recourse to Sec 7 or 10 of the Act cannot be sustained.”Several precedents were also examined to conclude that it was clear that permission to travel abroad and renewal or reissue of passport are two different aspects to be dealt with by different provisions of the Act..Thus, the plea was disposed of with a direction to the authority to reissue Chidambaram's passport with the existing period of validity or for ten years..Senior Advocate P Wilson appeared for Chidambaram. Central Government Panel Counsel RP Pragadish represented the passport authority..[Read order]