Rahul Vijaybhai Barot vs State Of Gujarat on 25 July, 2023

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Gujarat High Court

Rahul Vijaybhai Barot vs State Of Gujarat on 25 July, 2023

Bench: Vaibhavi D. Nanavati

                                                                                   NEUTRAL CITATION




    C/SCA/7235/2023                              ORDER DATED: 25/07/2023

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            IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD

             R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 7235 of 2023
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                       RAHUL VIJAYBHAI BAROT
                               Versus
                         STATE OF GUJARAT
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Appearance:
MR ZUBIN F BHARDA(159) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1
MR. HARDIK P BAROT(6798) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1
MR. AYAAN PATEL, AGP for the Respondent(s) No. 1
KSHITIJ M AMIN(7572) for the Respondent(s) No. 2
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 CORAM:HONOURABLE MS. JUSTICE VAIBHAVI D. NANAVATI

                           Date : 25/07/2023

                              ORAL ORDER

1. By way of present writ-application filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India the writ-applicant herein has prayed for the following reliefs :-

"(A) Your Lordship may be pleased to admit and allow this petition;

(B) Your Lordship may be pleased to direct the Regional Passport Officer, Ahmedabad to issue a passport to the applicant pending the final hearing and disposal of Criminal Appeal No.235/2022 before this Hon'ble High Court of Gujarat for a period of five years.

(C) Your Lordship may be pleased to modify the condition 9(c) of Annexure A and permit the petitioner to visit abroad for meeting his wife.

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NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/7235/2023 ORDER DATED: 25/07/2023 undefined (D) Your Lordship may be pleased to grant such other and further relief that is just, fit and expedient in the facts and circumstances of the case."

2. The petitioner herein was tried in Special POSCO Case No.17/2017 under Sections 377, 506(2) and 114 of the Indian Penal Code and under Sections 4, 6 and 17 of the POCSO Act and was convicted by the Hon'ble Special POSCO Court of Gandhinagar by order dated 19.1.2022. The petitioner challenged the order of conviction and sentence before this Hon'ble Court by filing Criminal Appeal No. 235/2022 and the Hon'ble Court vide order dated 7.7.2022, pending the hearing and final disposal of the Appeal, suspended the sentence qua the applicant herein.

2.1 The petitioner herein applied for the passport being Application Number-AH2065606401421 on 6.9.2021, which is duly produced at Annexure "B", however, the said application came to be objected by the respondent No.2 authority by communication dated 25.9.2021 on the ground that criminal case i.e. Criminal Appeal No. 235/2022 is pending before this Court.

3. Heard Mr. Hardik Barot, the learned advocate appearing for Mr. Zubin Bharda, the learned advocate appearing for the petitioner herein. Pursuant to the Page 2 of 6 Downloaded on : Sat Sep 16 22:49:09 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/7235/2023 ORDER DATED: 25/07/2023 undefined criminal case i.e. Criminal Appeal No. 235 of 2022, which is pending before this Court, the sentence of the petitioner has been suspended and appeal is admitted and same is pending adjudication. Reliance is placed on the Notification issued by the Central Government, Ministry of External Affairs bearing No.VI/401/1/5/2019 dated 10.10.2019. Mr. Barot, the learned advocate has prayed that the case of the petitioner for granting of passport be considered.

4. Mr. Kshitij Amin, the learned advocate appearing for the respondent No.2 authority was not in a position to controvert the submissions advanced by the learned advocate appearing for the petitioner. Mr. Amin, the learned advocate appearing for the petitioner submitted that validity of the application duly preferred by the petitioner herein dated 6.9.2021 would be for a period of one year and after passage of one year, the life-span of the said application expires. The petitioner herein would have to file fresh application before the respondent authority.

5. At this stage, it is apposite to refer to the notification issued by the Central Government, Ministry of External Affairs bearing No.VI/401/1/5/2019 dated 10.10.2019, para-2 of the said notification reads thus :-

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NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/7235/2023 ORDER DATED: 25/07/2023 undefined "2. GSR 570(E) dated 25.8.1993 is reproduced below for reference:

GSR 570(E) - In exercise of the powers conferred by clause

(a) of Section 22 of the Passports Act, 1967 (15 of 1967) and in supersession of the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of External Affairs No. GSR 298(E) dated the 14th April 1976, the Central Government, being of the opinion that it is necessary in public interest to do so, hereby exempts citizens of India against whom proceedings in respect of an offence alleged to have been committed by them are pending before a criminal court in India and who produce orders from the court concerned permitting them to depart from India, from the operation of the provisions of Clause (f) of subsection (2) of Section 6 of the said Act, subject to the following conditions, namely:

(a) the passport to be issued to every such citizen shall be issued- (i) for the period specified in order of the court referred to above, if the court specifies a period for which the passport has to be issued; or ..

(ii) if no period either jor the issue of the passport or for the travel abroad is specified in such order, the passport shall be issued for a period of one year;

(iii) if such order gives permission to travel abroad for a period less than one year, but does not specify the period validity of the passport, the passport shall be issued for one year;

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NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/7235/2023 ORDER DATED: 25/07/2023 undefined

(iv) if such order gives permission to travel abroad for a period exceeding one year, and does not specify the validity of the passport, then the passport shall be issued for the period of travel abroad specified in the order.

(b) any passport issued in terms of (a)(ii) and (a)(iii) above can be further renewed for one year at a time, provided the applicant has not travelled abroad for the period sanctioned by the court; and provided further that, in the meantime, the order of the court is not cancelled or modified;

(c) any passport issued in terms of (a)(i) above can be further renewed only on the basis of a fresh court order specifying a further period of validity of the passport or specifying a period for travel abroad;

(d) the said citizen shall given an undertaking in writing to the passport issuing authority that he shall, if required by the court concerned, appear before it at any time during the continuance in force of the passport so issued."

6. Considering the aforesaid Notification, in the facts of the present case, the applicant herein shall file fresh pass-port application, as the life-span of earlier application has expired, and the respondent authority shall consider the fresh application of the petitioner, taking into consideration the notification dated 10.10.2019 for a period of five years. The aforesaid be decided preferably within a period four weeks from the date of receipt of this order.

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NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/7235/2023 ORDER DATED: 25/07/2023 undefined

7. With the aforesaid, the present petition stands disposed of. Direct Service is permitted.

(VAIBHAVI D. NANAVATI,J) SAJ GEORGE Page 6 of 6 Downloaded on : Sat Sep 16 22:49:09 IST 2023

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