THE Bombay High Court Tuesday expressed displeasure at the filing of a vague petition by bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut seeking renewal of her passport as her application to renew her passport was rejected by the passport authorities as there was a case of sedition registered against her in Bandra.
The court said the petition could not be considered until the passport authority had been added as a respondent to the case.
A bench of Justices Prasanna B Varale and Surendra P Tavade added the state of Maharashtra had little to do with the matter, and that the passport authority would be the one issuing the renewed passport, which mandated their inclusion in the application.
Kangana and her sister Rangoli had earlier approached the high court, seeking quashing of sedition FIR. While the court ordered police to not take any coercive action against them, the FIR against them remains.
Advocate Rizwan Siddique, for Ranaut, submitted that the application was intended as an interim application in a petition for the quashing of an FIR against them.
The bench, however, pointed out there was no valid reason for applicant no. 2 (Rangoli Ranaut) to submit such a request, as she was not in the same position as Kangana Ranaut , who was part of the film industry and would need the passport to travel.
Advocate Siddique submitted that the application sought to secure a NOC from the High Court, which is to be submitted to the Passport Office for the renewal of applicant No.1’s passport. He mentioned that the applicant had been informed of this requirement orally at the passport office, when she approached it to renew her existing passport.
The Court rejected this contention, stating that this information had not been included in the application, and given its oral nature, could only be verified by the relevant passport authorities or their representatives. It also observed that there was no such order confirming the same had been annexed to the application.
Siddique prayed that this was an inadvertent mistake and that they be allowed to amend the
application, and be given time to issue notice to the passport authorities.
The Court granted this request and ordered that the amended application be filed by the end of the day.
The matter will now be taken up on 25 June 2021.
