FIR alone no ground to impound passport, says J&K HC | India News

SRINAGAR: Mere registration of an FIR or pendency of an investigation can’t be grounds to deny or impound a passport or withhold its renewal, the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh excessive court docket dominated, setting apart a Jammu CBI court docket’s order rejecting a retired IAS officer’s plea for launch of his passport.“It is only upon the filing of a chargesheet and the court taking cognisance of the offence that it may be said that a criminal case is actually pending,” the HC mentioned.CBI had seized the passport of Sajad Ahmad Khan throughout a raid at his residence Oct 12, 2021, in reference to an investigation into the unlawful issuance of arms licences. The company additionally confiscated his cellphones and land paperwork.Khan, who had retired on March 31, 2018, appeared earlier than CBI in Chandigarh, the place he cooperated with the investigation, however requested for the return of his passport.However, the regional passport officer in Srinagar knowledgeable him on Feb 3, 2023, that his journey doc had been impounded below part 10(3)(c) of the Passports Act, citing nationwide safety issues.Khan filed an software in search of launch of his passport earlier than the CBI particular court docket, stating he was a senior citizen and meant to go for Hajj pilgrimage. On Sept 11, 2024, the CBI court docket launched the opposite articles seized in the course of the raid, however held that the passport couldn’t be launched.Khan challenged the order in HC, arguing that he was not concerned in any act prejudicial to India’s safety and that his passport had been held for over three years with none fees being filed.CBI opposed the plea, stating that his position had been established within the “conspiracy for issuance of arms licences illegally in view of the monetary considerations”.The probe company mentioned it had sought sanction for his prosecution as of Oct 30, 2023, which was nonetheless awaited.The HC mentioned the respondents had failed to place any materials on file to point out that the impounding of the petitioner’s passport was with regard to the safety issues of J&Okay and that it was vital within the curiosity of the nation’s safety.The proper to journey overseas was an vital human proper, for it nourished the unbiased and self-determining inventive character of the person, the excessive court docket said, citing a Supreme Court judgment.