Liberty not State's gift but obligation, passport authority can't seek itinerary for renewal: SC

The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that citizens cannot be compelled to furnish travel schedules or visa details when seeking renewal of their passports, reaffirming that personal liberty is a constitutional guarantee and not something granted by the State.

- MPOST BUREAU

Delivering the judgment, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and A G Masih stated that "liberty, in our constitutional scheme, is not a gift of the State but its first obligation" and forms a core component of Article 21.

The court said the sole role of the passport authority at the renewal stage is to verify whether criminal courts handling pending cases have allowed the applicant to retain the option of foreign travel under their supervision. According to the bench, the authority cannot insist on itineraries or documentation that may not yet exist. "The passport authority is not required, at the renewal stage, to demand a schedule of future journeys or visas which may not yet exist," the order noted.

The judgment emerged from a petition filed by Mahesh Kumar Agarwal, convicted in the coal block allocation case and facing separate proceedings under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in an NIA court in Ranchi. His passport, deposited in court as a bail condition, expired in 2023. Agarwal approached the Supreme Court after the Calcutta High Court refused to grant him relief on renewal.