Police nor criminal court can seize passport, says Karnataka HC
Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka has reiterated that ”neither the police nor the criminal court invoking powers under Sections 102 or 104 of the Criminal Procedure Code can seize or impound a passport.” The court, therefore, recently quashed the order of the Debt Recovery Tribunal-1, Bengaluru, which had impounded the passport of Nitin Shambhukumar Kasliwal, a businessman from Mumbai.
The court said the Tribunal has the powers of a civil court and when the civil court itself cannot impound a passport, the DRT too cannot.
The facts of the case date back to 1999 when Kasliwal had executed an agreement in favour of various lenders for loans secured. In 2015, the lender banks initiated a case before the Debt Recovery Tribunal seeking repayment and in default attachment and sale of properties of Kasliwal and his businesses.
The banks applied for the surrender of Kasliwal’s passport. On April 16, 2015, the Tribunal passed an order retaining his passport.
Subsequently, Kasliwal filed applications whenever he needed to travel abroad and in return surrendered the passport to the Tribunal.
In December 2016 he sought the release of his passport as he had to renew it before its validity expired, but his application was rejected. He then approached the High Court.
Kasliwal’s petition was heard by Justice M Nagaprasanna, who gave his judgment on December 6, 2023.
The court noted that the Tribunal had the same powers vested in a civil court.
”The issue is, whether the Tribunal can direct withholding of passport of any person in terms of the power ascribed under the provisions quoted hereinabove. The answer would be an unequivocal and emphatic ‘NO’,” the court said in its judgment.
Reasoning that the Tribunal does not have the power to impound passports, the court said, ”The Passport Act is a special enactment and is trite that it being a special enactment which would prevail over any power of even the civil court or criminal court to retain or impound a passport.
”The issue in the case at hand is, such an act being done by the Tribunal which undoubtedly has only the power of following the procedure of a civil court in securing ends of justice. The civil court or the criminal court itself does not have the power to impound the passport.” The court said that though Sections 102 and 104 empower the police to seize and the court to impound any document, it does not include the passport.
”Impounding of any document produced before the court cannot stretch to an extent that those courts can impound the passport also,” it said.
Ordering the Tribunal to release the passport of Kasliwal, the court said, ”The very act of the Tribunal in directing surrender of the passport of a citizen or its detention before it, would amount to impounding of the passport. Such power is unavailable to the Tribunal.”
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Apologise for Assam MP's remark on Muslims not allowed to offer Eid prayers on streets: CM Himanta
Guwahati(PTI): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said he felt "ashamed" that an MP from his state had asserted in Parliament during the Waqf Bill debate that Muslims were not allowed to offer Eid prayers on streets, and issued an apology.
''The people of Assam also do not want to offer 'namaz' on streets when there are beautiful and good mosques in the state'', the CM said at a press conference after a cabinet meeting.
Sarma was apparently referring to Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, though he did not name him directly.
Gogoi, during the debate, had criticised the government for allegedly preventing Muslims from offering Eid prayers on streets, questioning the BJP’s commitment to minority rights
''People from across the country are calling me about it. We are ashamed and I as the CM apologise to people across the country'', Sarma said.
There has been no demand from Muslims that they want to offer prayers on roads, he added.
He further alleged that the MP’s remarks created the impression that only one community contributed to India’s freedom struggle.
''This MP went to the extreme of highlighting only one community’s role. There was no mention of Mahatma Gandhi, Gopinath Bordoloi, Subhas Chandra Bose, or other key figures," Sarma said.
Replying to a question on the BJP's prospects in the forthcoming panchayat polls scheduled to be held in two phases on May 2 and 7, Sarma said, ''It will be good in all the elections- panchayat, Rabha Hasong Council, Bodoland Territorial Council and assembly polls as the people of Assam have immense faith and confidence in Prime Minister Narendra Modi."
"It is only the extreme statements made by a particular MP from Assam in Parliament which has made us sad and we are feeling ashamed about it'', he added.
People of Assam will ''teach a lesson to such people when the time comes'', the CM said.
