
Court Allows Kejriwal Plea For No Objection Certificate For Passport Renewal | Delhi News – Times of India
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday allowed the plea of former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal seeking a no objection certificate for the renewal of his passport. On May 28, Kejriwal told the court his passport expired in 2018, and he was seeking renewal for 10 years.The court of special judge Dig Vinay Singh, allowing the plea, said that the court had “no objection” if Kejriwal’s passport was renewed for 10 years as per rules. The judge, however, made it clear that this order of the court shall not in any manner “fetter the discretion of the passport authorities” in granting or refusing the renewal of the passport under the Indian Passports Act and the relevant rules.Observing that the “no objection” granted through this order shall remain in force for a period of three months within which Kejriwal may get his passport renewed, the court said, “It goes without saying that the present order is not granting any permission to the applicant to travel abroad, and if he ever desires to travel abroad for any purpose, he shall have to file an appropriate application seeking such permission.“The court on May 29 issued notices to ED and CBI, directing them to file their responses by June 4. CBI opposed the plea by the former CM by filing a formal reply. ED did not file any formal reply but made only oral submissions to the effect that the renewal of the passport should not be granted for a complete 10 years. CBI submitted that the norms followed in different courts of CBI relating to such matters are that the renewal permission is granted for 5 years.Advocate Mudit Jain, appearing for Kejriwal, submitted that the renewal permission be granted for the full 10 years as he, in any case, has to seek permission to travel abroad, which he shall seek as and when he requires to travel abroad. The court noted that at present, Kejriwal is not seeking any permission to travel abroad, obviously as he may not be planning to travel abroad in the immediate near future, but that too cannot come in the way of granting permission to the applicant for renewal of the passport for a complete 10 years.After all, the bail conditions already prescribe that the applicant shall not travel abroad without formal permission of the court, the judge said.