Petitioner has approached this Court seeking for a direction to respondents 2 and 3 to return the passport of the petitioner bearing No.J-6987429. According to him, 3rd respondent has seized the above passport on 22/11/2013. It is stated that, he has only one valid passport and he has not obtained fake passport in another name. He was travelling frequently with the aforesaid valid passport. While so, when he was returning to India, he was detained on 22/11/2013 and his passport was taken into custody by the 3rd respondent. Though he had submitted Ext.P9 application to the 2nd respondent, no orders have been passed and it is hence the petitioner seeks the said relief.
2. Statement is filed on behalf of the 2nd respondent inter alia stating that Passport No.A-6742423 and Passport No.B-3884804 dated 24/11/2001 are issued in favour of the W.P.C.No.6467/2014 2 petitioner which was got reissued with passport No.J- 6987429 dated 16/07/2011 from Riyadh. The same was impounded by the 2nd respondent after issuing show cause notice to impound passports, by exercising power under Section 10(3)(b) of the Passports Act, 1967 as amended in 1993. Though there was a provision for appeal to the Chief Passport Officer, New Delhi, the petitioner did not avail of the said remedy. It is further stated that the passport has been seized and forwarded to the 2nd respondent by the 3rd respondent and it is in the safe custody of the 2nd respondent.
3. In so far as the petitioner’s passport has been impounded in exercise of the statutory power exercised by the 2nd respondent and necessary orders have been passed by the 2nd respondent, the remedy open for the petitioner is only to file an appeal against the said order under Section 11 of the Passport Act.
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4. Under these circumstances, I do not think that the petitioner is entitled for any relief in the writ petition. Accordingly, reserving the right of the petitioner to prefer an appeal against the order passed by the 2nd respondent, this writ petition is dismissed. However, the 2nd respondent shall communicate to the petitioner a copy of the order within a period of fifteen days from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment.
(A.M.SHAFFIQUE, JUDGE) jsr