SC to examine provisions on passports to accused in Jan

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that it will examine, in January next year, the constitutional validity of a provision in the passport law and a notification that provides for issuance of passport for a year only to an accused on receipt of a 'no objection certificate' (NOC) from a court.

The court was hearing a petition filed by lawyer Prashant Bhushan who got a passport for a period of only one year on account of some FIRs registered against him for matters related to being part of protests and demonstrations.

He had challenged the constitutional validity of the Passports Act's Section 6(2)(f), which states that a passport shall not be issued or reissued to a person accused of committing any offence.

"The blanket prohibition in Section 6(2)(f) has been partially lifted vide a notification issued in 1993 which states that passport may be issued/reissued if the applicant produces an NOC from the court concerned and if no period is mentioned in the NOC, then the passport shall be issued/reissued for only one year," the plea said.

The validity period is of 10 years applicable in normal cases.

Bhushan has filed an appeal challenging a Delhi High Court order which had dismissed his plea.

He had also challenged the constitutional validity of this notification. IANS