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Supreme Court News: The Supreme Court, while giving its verdict on the petition of Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal, said that freedom is the first responsibility of the Constitution and future travel or visa information is not necessary in passport renewal. Aggarwal had challenged the Calcutta High Court’s decision of refusing renewal in the Supreme Court and sought an order to the Passport Office for renewal.
New Delhi. The Supreme Court said on Friday that freedom in our Constitution is not something given by the state, but it is its first responsibility. The court also said that the passport authority is not required to ask for future travel or visa information at the time of passport renewal. A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice AG Masih said that the job of the passport authority is only to see whether the travel has been permitted by the criminal courts, despite the pending case.
The Supreme Court said, ‘In our Constitution, freedom is not a gift given by the state, but its first responsibility. Freedom of movement, travel, livelihood and opportunity to any citizen, while remaining within the ambit of law, is guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court gave this order on the petition of Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal, who is facing a case under UAPA in the NIA court of Ranchi. Aggarwal had sought renewal of his passport, which was submitted as a bail condition, but his passport was set to expire in 2023.
The Supreme Court said, ‘The passport authority is not required to ask for information about future travel or visa at the time of renewal, which may not be even now. His job is only to see whether the criminal courts have given permission for the travel despite the pending case or not. Aggarwal had challenged the Calcutta High Court’s decision of refusing renewal in the Supreme Court and sought an order to the Passport Office for renewal. The Supreme Court canceled the High Court order and directed the Passport Authority to renew Aggarwal’s passport.
