Pune man denied passport for attending PFI presser to get it for two years
Pune man denied passport for attending PFI presser to get it for two years
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the Centre to issue a fresh passport to Pune resident Elliyas Mohammad Gause Momin, who had been denied a passport after an adverse police report alleging that he participated in a press conference of the Popular Front of India (PFI), a banned Islamic organisation in 2022.
The passport is to be issued for a duration of two years only, the court said.
Advocates Tahera Qureshi and Mubin Solkar sought, on behalf of Momin, that the court direct the authorities to issue a passport valid for 10 years.
The passport office claimed that the petitioner was a founder member of the banned Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) to drive home the point that the issuance of a fresh passport to Momin “may affect the friendly relations of India with foreign countries.”
52-year-old Momin was charged in seven cases for rioting in 2001, but he was acquitted in all of them.
However, while the trials were going on, he filed applications for a passport before the court and thrice he was granted permission to get one that was issued for a year.
After he was acquitted in all cases and when the passport was still denied, Momin decided to approach the high court.
Momin’s counsel Solkar argued that while there was not a single case pending against his client, the agency started claiming that he was present at a press conference organised by PFI.
Solkar further maintained that the press conference had taken place on September 22, 2022, when the organisation was not yet banned.Â
“PFI was banned on September 27, 2022, so there was no justification for the police to give an adverse report,” he said.
Meanwhile, Additional Public Prosecutor Prajakta Shinde opposed the plea on the grounds that if the passport was re-issued to Momin, he would leave India and join the PFI.
The bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Manjusha Deshpande, however, observed that Momin had participated in the press conference held in protest against the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED)
The bench further noted that Momin had also made a speech supporting PFI.
The bench also saw that after the press conference, a protest was staged at the District Collector’s Office on September 23, 2022. However, Momin was not a participant in the protest where anti-India slogans were allegedly raised.
On the basis of the observations that Momin was not facing even a single case at the moment, the bench directed Khadak Police Station in Pune, to allow a clear police verification report to the passport authority so a fresh passport could be issued to the petitioner.
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