Shashi Atwal vs Union Of India And Others

Anil Kshetarpal, J

The petitioner prays for issuance of a writ in the nature of mandamus to direct the Regional Passport Office to issue a passport to enable him to attend the convocation of his son, which is scheduled to be held on 13.06.2022. In a previous petition filed by the petitioner, the petitioner was permitted to travel abroad vide order dated 17.05.2022, which reads as under :-

''Instant application has been filed by the applicant-petitioner under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 for seeking permission to travel abroad enabling him to attend the Graduation Ceremony of his son, which is scheduled to be held at the University of Windsor from June 13, 2022 to June 17, 2022. An invitation letter issued by the aforesaid University is annexed with the application as Annexure A-2. Notice in the application was got accepted in Court on 21.04.2022 through the State Counsel, who had sought time to file response to the same. However, despite availing two opportunities, no response has been filed till date, and yet another opportunity has requested for filing response to the said application. However, the said request does not seem feasible inasmuch as the applicant has to travel to Canada to attend the alleged convocation ceremony going to be held from June 13, 2022 to June 17, 2022 and that his application for grant of VISA can only be processed after the permission is granted by the Court in this regard. Adjourning the case further is likely to rendering the filing of instant application infructuous.

In view of the above, the instant application is allowed. The applicant-petitioner is granted the permission to travel to Canada and to stay there for a period of one month commencing from 10.06.2022 to 09.07.2022. The applicant-petitioner shall furnish the complete particulars of the travel programme; the place where he intends to stay while travelling abroad; his contact details, besides, furnishing of heavy surety to the satisfaction of the trial Court/Duty Magistrate concerned. He shall also report to the concerned Police Station about his return on or before 17.07.2022.

Application stands disposed of, accordingly.”

Ms. Gehna Vaishnavi, Advocate appearing for the Regional Passport Office has submitted that the application submitted by the petitioner has been accepted and processed and the passport can be issued only after the receipt of police verification.

Mr. Chopra, learned counsel representing the State of Punjab admits that the request from the passport office has been received on 06.06.2022 and the same shall be returned to the passport office by tomorrow evening.

Keeping in view the aforesaid facts, the Regional Passport Office is requested to proceed with the matter forthwith and if found eligible, the necessary passport be issued by 10.06.2022.

With these observations, the petition is disposed of.