The Gujarat Excessive Courtroom on Thursday issued a discover to the Passport Part of the Excessive Commissioner of India in London in reference to a petition filed by a UK-based Indian nationwide, Virendrakumar Patel, difficult the inaction of the Passport Part, which is allegedly “conserving on halt” the renewal of his Indian passport on the grounds of “suppression of data” pertaining to an alleged court docket continuing pending towards Patel in India.
In his petition earlier than the Excessive Courtroom filed in November by means of his advocate Utkarsh Dave, Patel mentioned that the method of renewal of his passport “got here to be halted conditionally” in 2022.
The petition states that Patel has been residing in London for the previous 20 years and his authentic passport expired in 2020.
He had utilized for passport renewal and a recent passport was issued by the Passport Part of the Excessive Commissioner of India in February 2020, which was legitimate till February 2022.
“Earlier than the expiry of the passport, the petitioner utilized for renewal by the use of submitting an utility and paying the requisite payment. Nevertheless, the applying was stored pending and the petitioner was knowledgeable by electronic mail correspondence that he had been referred to as upon for a short rationalization pertaining to alleged suppression of data of a court docket case registered towards him (in India),” the petition mentioned.
“The petitioner as soon as got here to be apprehended in reference to an offence of impersonation in 2003-2004 by the Maharashtra police. An intensive search has been made by the petitioner as to the pendency of any legal case towards him in India. Regardless of all appreciable makes an attempt, no such data may very well be fetched… The petitioner approached (Passport Part) to hunt full data surfaced within the police verification. Nevertheless, nothing besides the case quantity is being offered to him…”mentioned the petition.
Patel has additionally contended that the passport had been issued in 2020 on the time of renewal “with out elevating any protest” and now “needs to journey again to India for visiting members of the family, who’re presently below state of despair and in want of the petitioner”.
In an oral order, made out there on Friday, the Gujarat Excessive Courtroom issued a discover to the passport part of the Excessive Commissioner of London by means of the Ministry of Exterior Affairs and mentioned, “It’s submitted that the illustration of the petitioner dated September 21, 2024 has not been replied to or adjudicated, thereby prejudicing the petitioner because the petitioner will not be in a position to hint the small print with respect to (the case) of 2004, on the premise of which, the renewal utility for passport of the petitioner has not been granted.”
The court docket has granted time till December 23 for the respondents to file their reply to the discover.
Advocate Dave mentioned, “Proper to journey is a basic proper of an individual. The priority is that if an individual needs to come back again to the house nation, the place the alleged police grievance is filed, then there must be no drawback in renewing the passport. The problem ought to come up if an individual needs to flee the nation. Furthermore, my consumer has no entry to particulars of this alleged legal case towards him.”
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