Allahabad High Court
MOHAMMAD IRFANversusUNION OF INDIA AND 4 OTHERS
- Decided
Holding
The Court held that the petitioner must first obtain an emergency certificate under Section 4(2) of the Passport Act, 1967, and the requisite court sanction before a passport can be re‑issued, and therefore the writ of mandamus was not granted.
Summary
Petitioner Mohammad Irfan, residing in Saudi Arabia with an expired passport, filed a writ petition under Article 226 seeking a mandamus directing the Union of India and others to issue a Police Clearance Certificate (PCC). The respondents argued that because his passport had expired, Irfan must first obtain an emergency travel certificate under Section 4(2) of the Passport Act, 1967, and obtain a no‑objection order from the criminal court handling his trial before a new passport can be issued. The Court held that the petitioner must follow this statutory procedure and therefore could not be compelled to issue the PCC directly. Accordingly, the petition was disposed with liberty to the petitioner to apply for the emergency certificate, obtain the required court sanction, and then approach the Regional Passport Officer for passport re‑issuance. The Court did not grant the writ of mandamus.
Issues considered
- Whether a writ of mandamus can be issued directing the issuance of a Police Clearance Certificate when the petitioner’s passport has expired.
- Whether the petitioner must first obtain an emergency travel certificate under Section 4(2) of the Passport Act, 1967, and a no‑objection order from the criminal court before a new passport can be issued.
Legislation cited
- Passport Act, 1967 — s. 4(2)
Subjects
- Writ petition
- Article 226
- Police Clearance Certificate
- Passport Act
- Emergency certificate
- Mandamus
- Passport renewal
- Criminal court no‑objection
Judgment
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
WRIT - C No. - 29946 of 2026
Mohammad Irfan
.....Petitioner(s)
Versus
Union Of India And 4 Others
.....Respondent(s)
Counsel for Petitioner(s) : Rayoof Ali
Counsel for Respondent(s) : A.S.G.I., C.S.C., Tushar
Kant
Court No. - 1
HON'BLE AJIT KUMAR, J.
HON'BLE SIDDHARTH NANDAN, J.
1. Heard Sri Rayoof Ali, learned counsel for the petitioner,
learned A.S.G.I. on behalf of respondent nos.1 to 3 and learned
Standing Counsel on behalf of respondent nos.4 and 5.
2. By means of this petition filed under Article 226 of the
Constitution, petitioner has prayed for a writ of mandamus to
command the respondent to issue the Police Clearance
Certificate (PCC).
3. It is submitted by learned counsel for the petitioner that
petitioner is currently staying at Jehdda, Saudi Arabia, while
his passport has expired.
4. Per contra, it is submitted by learned panel counsel
appearing for the respondents that since petitioner's passport
has expired, he should get necessary emergency certificate
under Section 4(2) of the Passport Act, 1967 by making afresh
application before the embassy concerned to get necessary
certificate to travel India to get no objection/sanction/approval
from the concerned criminal court where trial is going on.
5. In the circumstances, we dispose of this petition with liberty
to the petitioner to apply before the embassy concerned under
Section 4(2) of the Passport Act, 1967 and once he gets the
WRIC No. 29946 of 2026
2
emergency certificate to travel India, he needs to apply before
the criminal law court concerned for necessary no objection/
sanction/ approval to travel abroad and when he gets no
objection, he may submit the same before the Regional
Passport Officer concerned, who shall then proceed to examine
the matter of re-issuance of passport in accordance with law.
(Siddharth Nandan,J.) (Ajit Kumar,J.)
September 17, 2026
S.Prakash
Digitally signed by :-
SHASHI PRAKASH
High Court of Judicature at Allahabad
Checking your session…