Delhi court grants No Objection Certificate to Rahul Gandhi for issuance of ‘ordinary passport’ for 3 years

A Delhi court, on Friday, partially allowed an application moved by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seeking a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the issuance of an "ordinary passport".

The Rouse Avenue Court of Delhi granted the no-objection certificate to India’s top opposition leader for 3 years.

On Friday, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vaibhav Mehta said that Gandhi is granted NOC valid for 3 years.

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"People who have been involved in graver offences have been granted passports for ten years. It includes 2G and Coal scam etc. Issuance of passport for ten years is given as a matter of routine," advocate Cheema added.

Former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy, during earlier submissions, filed the reply in the Delhi Court, opposing the Congress party leader's plea and submitted that the applicant (Rahul Gandhi) has no-valid or effective reason for the passport to be issued for 10 years.

In the reply, it is submitted that "the application is devoid of any merit for issuance of passport for 10 years."

He further in his reply submitted that the court may exercise the prudence to give permission after investigating and examining all the other matters that are correlated before deciding on the litigation of the applicant in the broad spectrum of areas of justice and law.

He added that at this stage, the NOC for the passport for the applicant may not be more than one year and may be reviewed annually or as deemed fit by this court.

"The right to hold a passport, like all other Fundamental Rights, is not an absolute Right and is subject to reasonable restrictions imposed by the Government in the interest of national security, public order, morality, and prevention of crime," Swamy added.

The Delhi Court had asked Subramanian Swamy, on Wednesday (May 24), to file his written submissions by Friday while hearing the plea for a fresh passport by Rahul Gandhi, who is an accused in the National Herald case.

Gandhi, who moved to the court seeking NOC to secure an ordinary passport, had surrendered his diplomatic travel document after his disqualification as an MP.

No pending criminal cases against Gandhi, says counsel

Counsel for Gandhi, Advocate Tarannum Cheema, who appeared along with advocates Nikhil Bhalla and Sumit Kumar, pursued the grant of the no objection certificate (NOC), stating that there are 'no criminal cases pending' against him, as per news agency ANI.

"The applicant ceased to be a Member of Parliament in March 2023 and as such he surrendered his diplomatic passport and is applying for a fresh ordinary passport. By way of the present application, the applicant is seeking permission and no objection from this Court for issuance of a fresh ordinary passport to him."

Rahul Gandhi's advocates submitted that there are no criminal proceedings pending and that travelling abroad is a fundamental right.

(With inputs from agencies)

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