The Supreme Court held that persons against whom criminal proceedings are pending are not absolutely disentitled to a passport under Section 6(2)(f) of the Passports Act, 1967.
Mahesh Kumar Agarwal, the appellant, sought renewal of his ordinary passport after its expiry while proceedings were pending before the NIA Court, Ranchi, and a criminal appeal against conviction was pending before the Delhi High Court. The NIA Court granted no objection for renewal and directed him to re-deposit the passport. The Delhi High Court also had no objection, subject to the condition that the appellant shall not leave the country without permission. The Regional Passport Office, Kolkata declined renewal by invoking Section 6(2)(f) of the Passports Act.
Allowing the appeal, the Supreme Court held that the bar under Section 6(2)(f) of the Passports Act is not absolute and is subject to the exemption under Section 22 read with General Statutory Rules notification No. 570(E) dated 25 August 1993. It distinguished between possession of a passport and permission to travel abroad. It directed re-issue of an ordinary passport to the appellant for ten years.
Mahesh Kumar Agarwal v Union of India
19 December 2025
Citations: 2025 INSC 1476 | 2025 SCO.LR 12(5)[22]
Bench: Justices Vikram Nath and A.G. Masih
Case Comment
Held, we are unable to sustain the approach adopted by the learned Single Judge and the Division Bench. Both have treated Section 6(2)(f) as an absolute bar so long as any criminal proceeding is pending, without giving full effect to the statutory exemption mechanism under Section 22 and GSR 570(E), and without adequately appreciating that the criminal courts actually dealing with the appellant’s cases have consciously permitted renewal while retaining stringent control over any foreign travel. They have, in effect, converted a qualified restriction, designed to secure the
presence of an accused, into a near-permanent disability to hold a valid passport, even where the criminal courts
themselves do not consider such a disability necessary.
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Keywords/phrases: Passport renewal—Section 6(2)(f) Passports Act—Pending criminal proceedings—Section 22 exemption—GSR 570(E)—No objection by criminal courts—Re-issue of passport
Read the Judgement here.