Key Points:
- Passport Authority had refused to renew her passport citing an FIR registered against her by the Mumbai Police.
- Justices PB Varale and SP Tavade said that Ranaut’s application was “vague” and did not place all relevant facts on record.
- The plea stated that Ranaut needs to be in Hungary from June 15 till August 30 for shooting her upcoming film ‘Dhakkad’.
The Bombay High Court on Monday was seeing Kangana Ranaut’s Passport case. Actress Kangana moved the High Court as her Passport renewal was request was rejected by the Passport Authority.
Justices PB Varale and SP Tavade were hearing Ranaut’s plea seeking directions to the passport authorities to renew/re-issue her passport. The Authority was alleged by Ranaut that they objected the renewal owing to the sedition FIR pending against her.
Ranaut had put an application at the Regional Passport Office for the renewal of her passport that was nearing expiry in September, which raised objections and hence, sought an order from the court when she disclosed the FIR against her by Munawar Ali over allegedly inflammatory social media posts. The plea stated that Ranaut needs to be in Hungary from June 15 till August 30 for shooting her upcoming film ‘Dhakkad’.
Rizwan Merchant, counsel for Munawar Ali raised preliminary objections to her plea saying it nowhere places any refusal or order by the passport officer on record. Meaning it was all verbal.
Merchant also said that the RPO is not made party to her application, by her.
The justices seeing the case said the “application is vague” and said she could have approached her lawyer and court earlier had she been more vigilant.
It was in October 2020 that the Bandra Police Station registered an FIR against the actress and her sister Rangoli Chandel under various IPC sections which included Sedition that followed controversial statements made by the two.
The Court observed,
“Which is the competent authority who refused you? You are seeking directions against the Passport Authority of India without making them a party?…This is all oral. Renewal of a passport is the business of the Passport Authority, not a PSI of a police station to whom an application was made, and you have approached the court against it…”
It added in,
“Inadvertently, the competent authority, the Passport Authority of India is not made party to the application even though the principal prayer is for renewal of passport. The counsel seeks permission to add passport authority as respondent no.3.”
