Neither the police nor the trial courts have the power to impound the passport of a person by exercising powers under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) as the power to impound passport is exclusively vested with the competent authority under the Passports Act, 1967, said the High Court of Karnataka.
The police do have the power to seize the passport under Section 102 of CrPC. The passport so seized cannot lie indefinitely in the hands of the police as beyond a certain period seizure would amount to impounding, which have a world of difference between them and which power is not conferred to the police under Section 102 of the CrPC, the High Court said.
The High Court also pointed out that the power of impounding a document under Section 104 of the CrPC is available to a court but this power cannot stretch to an extent of impounding the passport.
“The passport coming within the purview of the Passport Act and it being a special law would prevail over the provisions of Section 104 of the CrPC,” the High Court, said while referring to the apex court’s judgment on the powers of the trial court to impound documents.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the order while partly allowing a plea of one Praveen S. of Bengaluru, who had questioned the trial court’s order of rejecting his plea for releasing his passport to enable him to take his minor son to Paris for studies.
The petitioner is facing a cheating case related to a company and his passport was seized by the police and the trial court had ordered retention of it till conclusion of the trial.
While directing the trial court to release the passport to the petitioner, the High Court allowed the police to approach the passport authority for impounding it.
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