Overview
- Justices Ajit Kumar and Swarupama Chaturvedi directed police to submit passport verification reports within four weeks.
- Regional Passport Officers must tell applicants within one month if issuance is not possible and must dispose of cases within another month after a proper NOC is filed.
- The court said delays in police verification impede the right to travel, especially where only one-year reissuance is granted.
- When a criminal court’s NOC is silent on duration, issuing a one-year passport is justified, and a ten-year validity cannot be claimed as a right.
- The bench urged applicants to first respond to passport-office notices and obtain necessary NOCs, noting many petitions reach the court prematurely and citing MEA timelines that exclude police verification.