Passport officer should not act as mouthpiece of CID; J&K High Court sets aside order denying passport to Mehbooba Mufti's mother

The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh last week said set aside an order issued by passport authorities denying grant of a renewed passport to former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's mother, Gulshan Nazir [Gulshan Nazir v Union of India & Ors.]..Single-judge Justice MA Chowdhary said that applications for renewing passports can only be refused on the grounds mentioned in Section 6 (2) of the Passport Act and that the police verification report formulated by CID CIK cannot override the statutory provisions."Simply on the basis of the report of the J&K CID, which did not recommend to issue Passport, the Passport Officer under the provisions of Passport Act has not to shut his eyes and to act on that. ....Passport Officer has not to act as mouthpiece of the CID (nodal agency). When an authority is vested with the power, same is to be exercised judiciously and not arbitrarily ..," the Court said in its judgment..The Court was considering a plea filed by Mufti's mother challenging a 2022 order of the Joint Secretary of the Passport Seva Programme and the Chief Passport Officer, New Delhi as well as a 2021 communication issued by the passport officer, Srinagar, whereby she was refused issuance of a renewed Passport on the ground that the provisions of Section 6(2)(c) of the Passport Act, 1967 were attracted in her case..As per the respondent passport authorities, the police verification report in respect of petitioner that was received from J&K CID said that issuance of passport to the petitioner was not recommended due to security clearances issues.It was submitted that it was on the basis of the said report from the CID that the application of the petitioner was rejected as was the subsequent appeal..On the other hand, counsel for the petitioner argued that there were no allegations against the petitioner in the CID report and the Passport Officer has not applied mind while rejecting the request of the petitioner for issuance of Passport. It was also pointed out that the petitioner is over 80 years old and is not a member of any banned organisation..During the course of arguments, the Court called for the CID police verification report and found that it was formulated indicating the security angles for passport clearance of the petitioner's daughter, Mehbooba Mufti only.The Court noted that the only aspect with regard to the petitioner was about investigations by two agencies, the Enforcement Directorate and the CID CIK with regard to some of the transactions regarding some bank accounts maintained by the petitioner either separately or jointly with Mehbooba Mufti, the High Court said..It further noted that the passport officer had acted on the forwarding letter of CID without of analyzing its report in detail."Viewed thus, this Court is of the considered opinion that the ground on which the request of the petitioner for re-issue of the Passport has been rejected is totally untenable and unsustainable in the eyes of law. The petitioner, who claims to be an octogenarian, in absence of any adverse security report, cannot be deprived of her fundamental right guaranteed to her under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, to travel abroad as an Indian citizen", the Court said..Accordingly, the plea was allowed and the orders passed by the respondents were set aside. The respondent were granted six weeks period to consider the entire matter afresh and pass new orders..Senior Advocate Jehangir Iqbal Ganai and advocate Muzaffar Nabi Lone represented the petitioner. Deputy Solicitor General of India TM Shamsi and Additional Advocate Generala Asifa Padroo appeared for the respondents..[Read Judgment]