Srinagar, June 3 -- A bench of Justice Sindhu Sharma made the observations while allowing a petition by a former IAS officer, Sajad Ahmad Khan, challenging rejection of his application for release of his passport by Special Judge Anti-Corruption CBI Cases Jammu on 11 September 2021.
"The power to impound the passport under Section 10 of the Passports Act is a serious restriction on the fundamental rights of the citizen and order of impounding/suspending passport without sufficient cause or without following principles of natural justice is liable to be set aside," the court said, adding, "Thus, the order of impounding the passport of the petitioner under Section 10(3)(c) has not been validly exercised by him."
This apart, the court said, ...