The Allahabad High Court has directed that all police verifications related to passport applications must be completed and submitted within four weeks. The court emphasized that unnecessary delays in the verification process infringe upon an individual’s fundamental right to travel abroad. The directive aims to ensure administrative accountability and to streamline the passport issuance process.
The division bench comprising Justice Ajit Kumar and Justice Swarupama Chaturvedi delivered the order while hearing a petition filed by an applicant whose passport renewal had been pending for an inordinate amount of time. The court observed that many similar petitions were reaching the High Court because of undue delays in police verification, which is a crucial step before the issuance or renewal of a passport.
The bench referred to the Citizens Charter issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, which provides that an ordinary passport should be issued within 30 working days and reissued within seven working days, excluding the time required for police verification. However, since the Charter does not specify a fixed time limit for the verification process, the court held that such verification should not be allowed to linger indefinitely. It, therefore, directed that the police must ensure submission of verification reports within a maximum period of four weeks unless exceptional circumstances justify further delay.
The court further observed that bureaucratic inefficiency and lack of accountability often hinder timely completion of verifications. Such delays, it said, amount to administrative negligence and directly affect a citizen’s right to mobility, which is an essential aspect of the right to personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. The bench also noted that citizens should not be made to suffer due to systemic lapses or red tape in the verification process.
In addition, the court laid down procedural directions for passport authorities and applicants. It held that if an application remains pending for want of police verification, the applicant must respond promptly to any queries or notices issued by the passport office. In cases involving criminal proceedings, the applicant should obtain necessary permissions or no-objection certificates from competent authorities. The court also instructed Regional Passport Officers to ensure that applicants are informed within one month if their application cannot be processed, and once all required documents are furnished, the decision should be finalized within another month.
The High Court’s ruling reinforces the need for time-bound administrative procedures and highlights that police verification, while necessary for security reasons, should not become a tool for arbitrary delay. By fixing a four-week deadline, the court aims to balance security considerations with citizens’ constitutional right to travel, ensuring efficiency and accountability in public administration.
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