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7. Pendency of an FIR, by itself, cannot be a ground to refuse the passport. The Passport Authority can refuse the passport and any travel documents under Section 6 of the Passport Act, 1967. This Court and the Hon'ble Supreme Court has time and again reiterated the same under the provisions of 6(f) of the Passport Act can be invoked only when the case https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis has been charge-sheeted and taken on file before the concerned Court. Therefore, non-mentioning of the case in Cr.No.388 of 2018 which was also withdrawn by the Government, subsequently, cannot be treated as suppression. The impugned order is set aside. The second respondent shall also conduct an enquiry with regard to the manner in which the instructions has been provided by the third respondent with regard to the case in Cr.No.388 of 2018 which has already been withdrawn by the Government and if the instructions have been provided wrongly, necessary action has to be taken by the second respondent as against the concerned officers, who are responsible for the same.

8. Section 6(2)(F) of the Act would be relevant and the same is extracted as under:-

“6.Refusal of passports, travel documents, etc- ...
(2)Subject to the other provisions of this Act, the passport authority shall refuse to issue a passport or travel document for visiting any foreign country under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 5 on any one or more of the following grounds, and on no other ground, namely -

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https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

(f) that proceedings in respect of an offence alleged to have been committed by the applicant are pending before a Criminal Court in India.”

9.The above provision enables the Passport Authority to refuse the passport or travel document to an applicant on the ground that proceedings in respect of an offence alleged to have been committed by the applicant is pending before a Criminal Court. Registration of an FIR on the police files, based on a complaint, cannot be construed as a proceedings pending before the Criminal Court.