The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Friday asked former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti to approach the appropriate authority for remedy available regarding her passport application.
Disposing of her appeal against the decision of the single bench, which had dismissed her petition seeking court’s direction to the passport authority to issue her the document, a division bench comprising Justice Tashi Rabstan and Justice Javed Iqbal Wani, after hearing her counsel senior advocate Jehangir Iqbal Ganai, disposed of the appeal by providing the appellant with the liberty to approach appropriate authority to avail the proper remedy available to her under the scheme.
The bench further observed that “on receipt of appeal from her, the authority concerned shall consider and decide it on merit, strictly under rules, regulations and the provisions of the Act, that too uninfluenced by the observations made in the impugned judgment dated March 29 last”. “Needless to state that this court has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case,” the bench cleared.
A single bench of the court had on Monday dismissed Mufti’s petition, saying that her application was rejected by the Passport Officer, Srinagar, as the police verification report had recommended against its issuance to her.
Earlier, in a letter to Mufti on March 26, the Regional Passport Office, Srinagar, had informed her that her passport application was rejected based on an “adverse” police verification report. Informing her that the J&K CID had recommended against granting a passport to her, the Passport Officer had told her that she can appeal against the decision at a higher forum provided by the Ministry of External Affairs.
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