The Madras High Court has held as unsustainable in law the act of the Regional Passport Officer, Chennai, shortening the validity of Sivaganga MP Karti P. Chidambaram’s passport by two years when he applied for an additional booklet after the pages in his passport got exhausted.
Justice M. Govindaraj directed the RPO to reissue a passport to the MP, either with the existing validity up to March 5, 2024 or with a validity for the next 10 years since the rules in vogue from 2010 mandate issue of a new passport booklet with a new number both for renewal and reissue on exhaustion of pages.
The judge agreed with petitioner’s counsel P. Wilson that in normal circumstances, reissue of passport on exhaustion of pages, would not attract Section 6(2)(f) of the Passports Act of 1967. He said the provision relates to any criminal case pending against an applicant in the country.
