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Delhi court grants NOC to Rahul Gandhi for issuance of fresh passport
Opposing Gandhi’s application, Swamy submitted before the court that Gandhi has sought permission for a passport which would be valid for 10 years but it cannot be issued as a criminal case against him is pending before the court
A Delhi court on Friday granted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi a ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC) for the issuance of a fresh passport valid for three years.
Additional chief metropolitan magistrate Vaibhav Mehta of the Rouse Avenue court partly allowed Gandhi’s application seeking approval for a fresh passport. The Congress leader had to surrender his diplomatic passport following his disqualification as a Lok Sabha member of parliament (MP) after his conviction in a defamation case in Gujarat.
An ordinary passport issued for an adult is generally valid for 10 years from the date on which it is issued.
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Rahul Gandhi, an accused in the National Herald case filed by senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy in 2012, moved the application on Tuesday ahead of his United States visit after he surrendered his diplomatic passport following his disqualification as an MP in March.
Opposing Gandhi’s application, Swamy submitted before the court that Gandhi has sought permission for a passport which would be valid for 10 years but it cannot be issued as a criminal case against him is pending before the court.
Swamy submitted that according to an office memorandum, issued by the ministry of external affairs, a passport shall be issued “for a period of one year or for a period specified by the court for a person against whom a criminal case is pending before the court”.
He further argued that he had made a representation to the home ministry stating that Gandhi was a director and secretary of a company in the United Kingdom, where he has declared himself as a British citizen and the ministry has also issued notice to them.
Swamy further emphasized that as per Indian citizenship laws, if a person attains citizenship of another country his Indian citizenship is cancelled.
Swamy had argued that the cases against Gandhi are pending before the court and allowing him to travel would hamper the ongoing probe in the National Herald case.
Responding to the arguments, advocate Tarannum Cheema appearing for Gandhi, submitted that there has been no restriction on travel imposed by the court while he was granted bail in the case.
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Cheema further argued that there have been graver cases such as the 2G scam and the coal scam, where permission for the issuance of passport for a period of 10 years has been granted.
Cheema also pointed out that Gandhi had received the notice from the home ministry to which he has replied, and they have not received anything further since 2019.
The court after hearing the arguments of both the parties allowed Rahul Gandhi’s application.
The court had on December 19, 2015, granted bail to Gandhi and others in the case.
Magistrate Mehta noted that the right to travel is a fundamental right and no restriction had been imposed on Gandhi when he was granted bail from the trial court in 2015.
