Heard learned advocate Shri R.D. Bhatt for the petitioner.
The petitioner by way of this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has approached this Court with the following prayers;
(A) Your Lordship may be pleased to issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction directing respondents to decide the application of the petitioner being file No. z/881497/10 in accordance with law and issue passport to the petitioner in the interest of justice;
(B) Your lordships be pleased to grant any other and further reliefs as may be deemed fit and proper in the interest of justice.
The facts, as could be culled out from the memo of the petition deserve to be set out as under;
The petitioner is residing within the jurisdiction of Regional Passport Office, Ahmedabad. The petitioner had been given passport in the year 1998 i.e. on 08.08.1998. That passport, as per the say of the petitioner, was lost in the year 1999. The petitioner applied for new passport in the year1999. The petitioner was issued new passport bearing Passport No.A9602397 on 25.04.2001. In United States of America, the passport was lost. It is at this stage required to be noted that petitioner was indeed unfortunate that the first passport, which was issued to him in India in the year 1998, was lost by him and the second passport being Passport No.A9602397 issued on 25.04.2001 was lost in USA. This passport was lost in America, therefore, petitioner had to obtain Emergency Certificate for travelling, which came to be issued, however, as could be seen from the records the said certificate was obtained without disclosing the fact that petitioner was in fact earlier issued passport in the year 1998 and which he had lost, thus there was a first suppression. After reaching India in the year 2008, petitioner once again applied for passport that passport application was not processed on account of suppression of facts and material documents to the passport authority whereunder petitioner was considered to be not entitled to receive the passport i.e. a travelling document. This application was thus, therefore, treated as closed, however there was liberty to the petitioner to apply for fresh. Accordingly, petitioner made an application, which was culminated into generation of file no. z/881497/10. The petitioner has approached this Court on specious plea with this application has not been processed, hence, this petition.
During the course of submission, when Court inquired of the learned advocate for the petitioner as to why the petitioner has not obtained status report from the Website of the Ahmedabad Regional Passport Office, the learned advocate for the petitioner has answered that petitioner is illiterate and hence he could not obtain the status report. The Court, therefore, inquired of the petitioner's counsel as to why the process of Right To Information Act is not undertaken to obtain information. Ultimately, the learned counsel was kind enough to furnish one document, which was a letter of Government of India, Ministry of External Affairs, Regional Passport Office dated 13.01.2011, which was in respect of file no. z/881497/10, in which the following is mentioned:-
"File No:Z/881497/10 Date: 13/01/2011 To Patel Dilipkumar Tribhovandas, Patel Vas, At Govindpura-Veda, Tal Kalol, Dist Gandhinagar 382735 Sub : Show Cause Notice under Indian Passport Act 1967.
Mr.
Dilipkumar, This is in continuation to our earlier letter No.L001131/09 dated 17/02/2010 and with reference to your above mentioned application for grant of passport facilities.
You had suppressed the fact that you hold passport previously. It was informed to you that to give wrong information and suppressing any material information is an offence under Section 12(1) b of IPA, 1967 which you have committed.
You are again informed to furnish explanation with your passport in original within 10 days of receipt of this letter. Explanation in form of affidavit either in Hindi or English that under which circumstances you have committed above stated illegal act? Why action under Indian Passport Act 1967 should not be initiated against you? Why your name should not be placed under list for not issue of Passport?
If no reply is received in stipulated time period necessary action under Section 10(3) (a), (b) and/or (g) of IPA, 1967 will be initiated against you and your name will be placed under Prior Approval Category and no passport will be rendered to you in future.
Superintendent, Regional Passport Office, Ahmedabad"
This document is not forming part of the petition nor the petitioner has made any averment in respect of this document nor has the petitioner referred to this document anywhere in the memo of the petition. On the contrary, the petitioner's averments in the petition indicate an attempt on the part of the petitioner to obtain orders from this Court suppressing the material fact in respect of the contents of this document, which is reproduced hereinabove, in fact, petitioner was moving the petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, was under pious obligation to approach the Court with clean hands and informed the Court about all developments so as to apprise the Court of the real grievances, if any. The averments made in the memo of the petition required to be quoted hereinbelow, which would unequivocally point towards the petitioner's abhorrent act to mislead not only the authorities but the Court of law for the reasons obviously known to the petitioner. The avernments made in the petition are set out as under:
"2.6 The petitioner states that quite surprisingly the petitioner after making payment of penalty amount, came to be issued with Show Cause Notice dtd. 17th August 2009 raising the issue that although petitioner had disclosed the facts in relation to having traveled on EC and loss of passport No.A9602397 dated 25th April 2001, the petitioner had obtained the above said passport that is passport No.A9602397 by suppressing the details of another passport being Passport No.A6484785 and the petitioner was asked to explain the cause for the same. A copy of the notice dated 17/08/2009 is annexed hereto and marked ad "Annexure-B" to the present petition.
2.8 The petitioner states that the petitioner has never suppressed any of the details from Regional Passport Office at the time of making application for the passport inasmuch as at the time of application for the passport vide File No. AHDL 0013109 the petitioner had already stated the true and correct facts relating to the Emergency Certificate and the loss of the passport being Passport No.A9602397. The petitioner states that it is very pertinent to note that is is not the assertion of the passport office that the petitioner had suppressed any details at the time of making application in the year 2009 after having returned back to India but the allegation of the passport office is to the effect that the petitioner had at the time of applying for passport No.A6484785 issued in the year 1998. The petitioner states that the information pertaining to the petitioner's having applied for passport in the year 1998 and having issued with the passport in 1998 has already been available with the Regional Passport Office and despite that if there was any query pertaining to the same, the Regional Passport Office could have been justified in raising the query at best in the year 2001 when the petitioner had made an application for another passport owing to the loss of passport issued in the year 1998 and not in the year 2009.
2.10 The petitioner again submitted application with the Regional passport Office vide file No.Z-881497/10. However, the petitioner got no response from respondent Nos.1 and 2 in response to his application and the petitioner, and, therefore, issued a notice to the Passport Granting Officer, Ahmedabad on 2nd September 2011 through his advocate. Copy of the said notice is annexed herewith and marked as Annexure E to the petition."
The highlighted paragraph and averments set out hereinabove forming part of para no.2.10 in the petition, which in my view is nothing, but a smart move to mislead this Court and obtains order so as to exert undue pressure upon the concerned authorities. This averment is palpably wrong and made only with a view to obtain orders without disclosing facts before the Court, as the document dated 13.01.2012 is in respect of this very application being file No. z/881497/10. Thus, the averments highlighted hereinabove are the averments, which amounts to suppression of facts for obtaining order and, therefore, the petitioner has, in my view committed even contempt of Court by approaching the Court on incorrect information, therefore, the Court is of the view that petition deserve to be dismissed with a cost of Rs.25,000/-, which may deposited within one week from today.
(S.R.BRAHMBHATT, J.) Mr.
R.D. Bhatt, learned advocate for the petitioner, after the aforesaid order was passed, after lunch hours, requested the Court to reduce the amount of cost. At his request amount of fine is reduced, and now, instead of Rs.25,000/- it should be Rs.1,000/-, which may be deposited within one week from today.
(S.R.BRAHMBHATT, J.) Pankaj Top