The Gauhati High Court has directed the passport authorities to decide an Indian national’s pending passport renewal application within four weeks, holding that passport issuance and renewal are person-specific and not family-specific.
Justice Manish Choudhury was hearing a petition filed by the wife of a man working in Saudi Arabia whose passport renewal application had remained pending after an adverse police verification report referred to pending Foreigners Tribunal proceedings against his four brothers.
The Court noted that there was no material to show that the passport applicant himself was involved in any criminal case, Foreigners Tribunal proceeding, or had incurred any disqualification under Section 6(2) of the Passports Act, 1967. It observed that the statutory grounds for refusing a passport are exhaustive and cannot be expanded on the basis of proceedings involving the applicant’s relatives.
Observing that the Passports Act contemplates individual assessment of an applicant, the Court held that the pendency of Foreigners Tribunal cases against the applicant’s brothers could not, by itself, justify withholding a decision on his passport renewal. Relying on the Supreme Court’s decision in Mahesh Kumar Agarwal v. Union of India, 2025 INSC 1476 the Court reiterated that the right to travel abroad and the right to hold a passport are facets of the right to personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution, and any restriction must strictly conform to the grounds prescribed under the statute.
Accordingly, the Court directed the Ministry of External Affairs and the Regional Passport Office to process the application by passing a reasoned order under Section 5(2) of the Passports Act within four weeks. It clarified that while the authorities retain the discretion to renew or reissue the passport and determine its period of validity under Section 7 of the Act, they cannot keep the application pending indefinitely without taking a statutory decision.
