"Right to travel abroad inheres in right to liberty under Article 21:" Mehbooba Mufti moves Jammu & Kashmir High Court for issuance of passport

Former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister and president of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mehbooba Mufti has moved the Jammu & Kashmir High Court seeking directions to the government and police authorities to issue passport to her (Mehbooba Mufti v. Union of India and Ors)..Mufti has contended that the right to travel abroad is a facet of right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution and it cannot be curtailed except in accordance with the procedure established by law.."The delay occasioned in issuing the passport in favour of the Petitioner and thereto in restraining the Petitioner from travelling abroad is not only illegal but violates with impunity the mandate of Article 21 of the Constitution of India," the petition filed through M/S Jahangir Ganai Law Associates states..In her plea, Mufti has sought directions from the High Court to the Central government and other officials concerned for issuance of passport allegedly denied to her for want of police verification..According to the petition, Mufti's passport had expired on May 31, 2019. She, therefore, applied for renewal of passport which was received on the file of Passport Officer on December 11, 2020. After the receipt of the application, complete in all respects, the Passport Officer sought police verification from Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), District Srinagar..Since, the police verification did not happen for a whole month, she submitted a representation to the SSP stating that as per the Central government guidelines, police verification has to be completed within 21 days.The representation, Mufti claims in her petition, was received by the SSP on February 13.."That the inaction on the part of the ADGP and SSP in not forwarding the police verification to that of(sic) passport officer is not countenanced by law. It is submitted here that administrative delay is a facet of arbitrariness and against the rule of law. Submitting of police verification report cannot be left to the sole discretion of the authority," Mufti has submitted. .The petition has contended that as per status tracker of her application, police verification report has not been forwarded to the passport officer till date. .The delay occasioned in issuing the passport has the effect of imposing restrictions on the fundamental rights of Mufti and is not in conformity with the constitutional mandate and the provisions of Passport Act, the plea states. ."It is essential to state here that right to travel abroad inheres in right to life and liberty as guaranteed under Article 21 of the constitution of India. The expression “Personal Liberty” in Article 21 of the Constitution of India takes in, the right to travel abroad. This right cannot be curtailed except in accordance with the procedure established by law. The whims and caprices of an authority have no role to play in it," the petition adds.