HC slams authorities for denying passport to Mehbooba Mufti's mother
says passport officer cannot act as mouthpiece of CID
Srinagar (PTI): The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has pulled up authorities for denying passport to PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti's mother, saying the passport officer cannot "act as a mouthpiece" of the CID.
Justice M A Chowdhary, while hearing the petition of Mehbooba's mother Gulshan Nazir, said it appears, there is no ground to refuse her request for issue or renewal of passport.
"Even, there is not an iota of allegation against the petitioner that may point out to any security concerns. The police verification report formulated by CID-CIK cannot override the statutory provisions of Section 6 of the Passport Act 1967," the judge said in an order pronounced on Saturday.
The court said otherwise also, in the report relied upon by the respondents --the passport officer and the appellant authority -- nothing adverse has been recorded against the petitioner with regard to any security concerns.
"The only aspect with regard to the petitioner is the reference of investigation by two agencies Enforcement Directorate and the CID-CIK with regard to some of the transactions regarding some bank accounts maintained by the petitioner either separately or jointly with Ms. Mehbooba Mufti," it said.
Simply on the basis of the report of the Jammu and Kashmir Crime Investigation Department (CID) that has recommended that passport should not be issued, the passport officer, under the provisions of the Passport Act, cannot "shut his eyes and to act on that", the court said.
Coming down heavily on authorities, it said since the passport applied for by the petitioner has not been issued as the same was not recommended for security clearance by the CID, the decision taken by both the passport officer as well as the appellant authority "is misplaced on account of security".
The court said the refusal by the passport officer was "non-application of mind".
"At least, the passport officer should have, in the background of the facts and circumstances, if required, asked the police and the CID agency as to whether there is anything adverse against the petitioner," the court said.
"In such a situation without going into the police verification report, refusal on part of the passport officer simply be termed as non-application of mind," it said.
After looking into the referred facts and circumstances, along with the CID report, the court said "The passport officer has not to act as mouthpiece of the CID".
"When an authority is vested with the power, the same is to be exercised judiciously and not arbitrarily as has been done in the instant case," it said.
Justice Chowdhary said it appears that the passport officer had acted on the forwarding letter of the CID instead of analysing its report in detail.
It said the police verification report prepared by the CID was with regard to two applications, one by the petitioner and the other by her daughter.
The report has exhaustively dealt with regard to the petitioner's daughter making references to her ideology and activities which were termed as a risk to the security of India, the court said.
"However, there is no mention with regard to the petitioner in the report in question, on the basis of which recommendation was not made to re-issue passport in favour of the petitioner and the passport officer refused to issue the same for the reason of 'security'," it said.
The appellate authority also seems not to have perused the police verification report and upheld the order of the passport officer, "on the wrong premise of security without any foundation".
The court said it is of the considered opinion that the ground on which the request of the petitioner for re-issue of the passport has been rejected "is totally untenable and unsustainable" in the eyes of the law.
The petitioner, who claims to be an octogenarian, in the absence of any adverse security report, cannot be deprived of her fundamental right guaranteed to her under Article 21 of the Constitution to travel abroad as an Indian citizen, it added.
Allowing the petition, the court set aside the orders impugned and asked the passport officer to consider the entire matter afresh and pass orders within a period of six weeks from the date the copy of the order is served upon him.
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Skipper Curran, bowlers lead PBKS to a five-wicket win over RR
Guwahati, May 15: Skipper Sam Curran played the lead act hitting a well-paced fifty and taking two wickets, as Punjab Kings consigned Rajasthan Royals to a five-wicket defeat in their IPL match here on Wednesday.
The target was a mere 145, but Kings made heavy weather of it on a sluggish track here but Curran (63 not out, 41b, 5x4, 3x6) had a calm head and skills to lift them to their fifth win of the season. PBKS made 145/5 in 18.5 overs.
The Englishman received good support from Jitesh Sharma (22, 20b) as the pair added 63 runs in a fluent fifth wicket partnership.
For Royals, it was their fourth defeat on the trot, but they remained second on the table with 16 points with a qualification to the playoffs to boot with.
The Kings’ chase began on a shaky note as they lost Prabhsimran Singh in the first over itself to Trent Boult.
But bigger jolts were in store as an impressive Avesh Khan (2/28) scalped two wickets in the fifth over.
The right-arm pacer first plucked the important wicket of Rilee Rossouw, who played some strong shots in his 13-ball 22, and then jettisoned in-form Shashank Singh for a two-ball naught.
Shashank failed to connect a fuller, straighter one from Avesh while attempting a flick, and the 141 kmph delivery thudded on his bat. Shashank did not even bother to use DRS as he walked away.
Punjab gained some ground through the alliance between Curran and Jitesh, who smoked R Ashwin for two sixes.
Curran too gave a dose of punishment to the veteran offie, lofting him for a wonderful six over extra cover.
But the blossoming stand was snapped by Yuzvendra Chahal (2/31), leaving PBKS at 111 for five in the 16th over.
However, Curran and Ashutosh Sharma (17 not out, 11 balls) knocked off the remaining runs without further drama.
Earlier, despite a well-tuned 48 from local hero Riyan Parag, RR struggled against an array of accurate bowlers on a rather slow pitch, meandering to a sub-par 144 for nine.
R Ashwin (28, 19b, 3x4, 1x6) and Parag (48, 34, 6x4) tried to accelerate during their 50-run stand for the fourth wicket but it could only bring in a temporary momentum for RR.
In fact, lethargy had set in very early in the Rajasthan innings after the early loss of Jaiswal, who chopped a Curran (2/24) delivery back on to his stumps.
Sanju Samson (18), who went past 500-run in a season for the first time in his IPL career, and Tom-Kohler Cadmore (18, 23b) stitched 36 runs for the second wicket but took six overs for it.
But with Curran and Arshdeep finding a hint of swing and maintaining a good line, scoring was not an easy proposition for the RR batters.
Eventually, Samson, who tried a hopping cut off pacer Nathan Ellis, gave a simple catch to Rahul Chahar at point in the seventh over.
Cadmore too returned to the dugout in the next over, as his almighty heave off leg-spinner Chahar (2/26) could not progress beyond Jitesh in the deep.
Those twin dismissals actually paved the way for the best phase in the Royals’ innings as Ashwin and Parag pressed their foot on the right pedal.
Ashwin displayed his batting skills, smashing Chahar for 17 runs in the 12th over that included a sequence of 6, 4, 4 and the first four was a stunning reverse scoop over backward point.
But he could not further extend his innings, lofting Arshdeep to Shashank.
Parag, usually a free-flowing batter, had to curb his flair in front of a hugely adoring home crowd because of the regular fall of wickets at the other end.
But a late cut off Curran that sped to third man stood as a testament of his ability and timing as he also moved past the 500-run mark for the season, before getting trapped in front of the wicket by Harshal Patel.
However, apart from conquering those little peaks the RR batters failed to slip into the top gear consistently.
