Telangana HC orders status quo on passport notice to KTR, asks ACB to explain its move
The Telangana High Court on Tuesday (October 27) ordered that status quo be maintained on a notice issued by the Regional Passport Office to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president and former minister K.T. Rama Rao, proposing to impound his passport. The notice is linked to a case relating to the Formula E Race that is being investigated by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
Justice E.V. Venugopal passed the interim direction while hearing a writ petition filed by Mr. Rama Rao seeking a stay on the proceedings initiated by the passport authorities under the Union government. The court issued notices to the Ministry of External Affairs, the Regional Passport Officer of Hyderabad and the Director General of the ACB, and adjourned the matter to November 6 for the next hearing.
Appearing for Mr. Rama Rao, senior counsel Gandra Mohan Rao submitted that the notice proposing to impound the passport was part of a premeditated plan. He told the bench that the ACB had already filed a charge-sheet in the Formula E Race case it is investigating.
The judge then asked the standing counsel for the ACB why the bureau had chosen to inform the passport authorities about the criminal case pending against Mr. Rama Rao when a charge-sheet had already been filed. The court also asked whether the ACB had filed a memo in the trial court seeking a direction to impound the passport. The standing counsel said he would obtain instructions on the matter, while maintaining that details of the pending case had been communicated to the passport authorities in accordance with the law.
Additional Solicitor General of India for Telangana B. Narasimha Sharma told the bench that only a show-cause notice had been issued to Mr. Rama Rao, asking why his passport should not be impounded in the light of the case being investigated by the ACB. He said Mr. Rama Rao was at liberty to appear before the authorities and explain his position, and clarified that no order to impound the passport had been passed.
The Additional Solicitor General also submitted that a notice of this kind can be challenged under the provisions of the Passport Act. The judge directed the counsel to file written submissions, if any, and posted the hearing to November 6.
The case adds to the ongoing legal exchanges between the BRS leader and the ACB over the Formula E Race, which was held in Hyderabad. The court's order on Tuesday means that, until the next hearing, the position as it stands will be maintained with respect to the passport notice. The matter will be taken up again on November 6, when the court is expected to hear further arguments from the parties involved.
The ACB, the passport authorities and the Ministry of External Affairs are yet to file their responses in the writ petition. The court's notices give them an opportunity to place their position on record before the next date of hearing.
