Cant deny passport to SIMI activists mother,says HC

The Madras High Court has quashed an order of the Regional Passport Officer rejecting passport to a woman because her son was an activist

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The Madras High Court has quashed an order of the Regional Passport Officer rejecting passport to a woman because her son was an activist of banned outfit SIMI and detained in France,holding that it cannot be a ground when she was not involved in any unlawful activity.

The fact that the petitioner is the unfortunate mother of a Students Islamic Movement of India activist cannot be the ground to deny her passport, Justice K K Sasidharan said in his recent order,allowing a petition by Pari alias Fathima.

Quashing the order of the RPO,the judge gave the woman liberty to make a fresh application. In case there was no adverse police report against her,the application should be considered by the RPO on merits and in accordance with law in three months,he ordered.

The petitioner submitted that she had sent her passport for renewal on April 18,2011 and it was renewed and dispatched. But as she had shifted her residence by then,the passport was not delivered. After seeking explanation,the RPO sought fresh verification from the Police Commissioner who said her son,Mohammed Riaz,was arrested in France for alleged links with SIMI. She then approached the High Court,which directed the RPO to consider her application afresh. By then she had moved to another locality in Madurai Rural and the SP in the police report said there was likelihood of her proceeding to France to meet her son and other SIMI activists,based on which the RPO rejected her plea for second time. She then filed a petition,saying her son had deserted the family and she was going only to Dubai to see her daughter.