UNION OF INDIA & ORS.versusSMT. CHARANJIT KAUR

                         UNION OF INDIA & ORS.
A
                                         v.
                          SMT. CHARANJIT KAUR

                              JANUARY 20, !987

B          [0. CHINNAPPA REDDY AND V. KHALID, JJ.]

         Passport Act, 1967: ss.10(3)(c) & 10(5)-Passport-lmpound-                 ~
    ment of for activities detrimental to sovereignty, integrity and security of
    India-Relevancy of material.

          The respondent, wife or a protagonist of Kbalistan residing
c   abroad, during her visit to India was round meeting extremist leaders in
    Punjab. Her passport was impounded by the Regional Passport Officer
    under s.IO(J)(c) of the Passport Act, 1967 in view ortbe grave nature of
    her activities and serious implications in terms or sovereignty, integrity
    and security or the country. The reasons for the order were however,
D   not furnished to her in view of the provisions or s.10(5) or the Act. The
    order was confirmed on appeal by the Chief Passport Officer.

          The High Court took the view that there was no danger in presenti
    from respondent's activities, and quashed the order on the ground that
    there was no material for the conclusion or the Passport Officer that
E   impounding or the passport was necessary.

          In this appeal by Special Leave by the Union of India it was
    contended that there was information before the Regional Passport
    Officer justifying the order and it was not open to the Court to assess
    the sufficiency or otherwise of such information. On behalf of the res-
F   pondent it was urged that there was no material whatsoever to indicate
    that the respondent was involved in any sort of politica' .ir prejudicial




G
    activity and that her passport bad been impounded merely because she
    was the wife of a protagonist of Kbalistan.

          Allowing the Appeal, the Court,

          HELD: I. I The order impounding the respondent's passport
                                                                                       I
    was based on relevant material. The fact that she-was the wife of an
    extremist leader residing abroad was not an irrelevant circumstance
    though singly, by itself it may appe"ar innocuous. That circumstance has
    to be viewed in conjunction with other circumstances. The respondent
H   bad chosen to visit Punjab in troubled days aod to call on Sant

                                      1080
                  U.0.1. v. SMT. CHARANJIT KAUR (REDDY, J.I              1081

    Bhindranwala, the acknowledged leader of the militant Sikh movement,
    in the company of Balbir Singh Sandhu, self-styled Secretary-General A
    of the National Council of Khalistan. She was reported to have come to
    India in the month of October, 1983 to see l)er mother who was said to
    be seriously ill. She tried to leave India on August 18, 1984. The
    authorities were, therefore, justified in suspecting the respondent of
    being an emissary or. a contact person between the extremist leader- 8
+   stationed abroad and the sikh militants in India. [1084C-G]

          1.2 If in the circumstances then existing and the material avail-
    able with him the Regional Passport Officer though that the respondent
    was likely to indulge in a manner detrimental to the sovereignty,
    integrity and the security of India, it could not be said that he was
    acting on no material. [1084G]                                               C

          2. The High Court was wrong in assuming that the Bhindranwala
    factor was extinguished with his death. Movements don't die with indi-
    viduals. It could not also be said that there was no present danger on the
    date of the impounding of the passport because that was two months           D
    after Bhindranwala's death. There was no justification for treating
    such a recent event as an incident oftbe ancient past. [1084G-H; 1085A-B]

          Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, [1978] 2 SCR, 621, referred
~   to.
                                                                                 E
          CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No.2793
    of 1985.

         From the Judgment and Order dated 13.5.1985 of the Punjab
    and Haryana H;gh Court in C.W.P. No.236 of 1985
                                                                                 F
        B. Datta, Additional Solicitor General, C.V. Subba Rao and P.
    Parmeshwaran for Appellants.

          Hardev Singh and R.S. Sodhi for the Respondent.

          The Judgment of the Court was delivered by                             G

         CHINNAPPA REDDY, J. The passport of Smt. Charanjit Kaur
    wife of Dr. Jagjit Singh Chauhan was impounded by the Regional
    Passport Officer, Delhi by an order dated August 18, 1984. The
    reasons for the order were not furnished to her "in view of the grave
    nature of her activities and serious implications in terms of sovereignty    H
    1082                  SUPREME COURT REPORTS             [1987) 1 S.C.R.

    and integrity of India and the security of India" in terms of Section
A
    10(5) of the Passport Act, 1967. The reasons are however, to be found
    in the note made by the Regional Passport Officer on the same day.
    Paragraphs 1 to 3 of the note are as follows:

               "Ref. Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi letter No.
B              V.1/405/1/102/84 dated 18.8.1984 relating to the activites of     -·~
               Smt. Charanjit Kaur wife of Shri Jagjit Singh Chauhan. Smt.
               Chauhan is reported to have links with Sikh extremists and
               may engage in activities detrimental to the security of In-
               dia. She is also planning to leave India shortly.

               2. Reported activities detrimental to the security of India,
c              attract the provision of Section 10(3)(c) of the Passport
               Act, 1967.

               3. Due to the seriousness of the case and the likelihood of
               the subject trying to leave the country, in public interest, it
D              is not considered necessary to issue a separate show cause
               notice. The same may, however, be incorporated in the
               impounding order. The right of the subject for appeal and
               the procedure in this regard may please also be explained in
               the impounding order, as per the Rules."

E   The basis of the communication from the Ministry of External Affair
    to the Regional Passport Officer was the information furnished by the
    Intelligence Bureau in two letters to the following effect:

               "According to a report Charanjit Kaur wife of Dr. Jagjit
               Singh· Chauhan self-styled President of the so-called
F              National Council of Khalistan who is now resident in U.K.
               is planning to leave India in the next few days. We are not
               aware of her passport particulars. There are reasons to
               believe that she has links with Sikh extremists and may
               engage in activities detrimental to the security of the country
               and therefore she should not be allowed to leave India. It is
G              requested that the MHA may consider the advisability of
               impounding her passport." and,

               2. Our enquiries reveal that Smt. Charanjit Kaur is pre-
               sently residing at Tanda and Nagai Khunga both in
               Hoshiarpur District.
H
                  U.0.1. v. SMT. CHARANJIT KAUR (REDDY, J.I              1083

                3. Smt. Charanjit Kaur has not come to notice participat-
                ing openly in political activities. She is however the wife of   A
                Dr. Jagjit Singh Chauhan President of the so-called
                National Council of Khalistan based in U.K. who has also
                been engaged in sustained anti-India and secessionist
                activities. According to the disclosures made by ..... Smt.
                Charanjit Kaur and Balbir Singh Sandhu self-styled Secret-       B
                ary General of the National Council of Khalistan used to
                hold frequent meetings in camera with Bhindrawala and his
                P.A. and they served as an important channel between
                Bhindrawala and his foreign links.
                                         l

                4. Smt. Chanranjit Kaur has also been ·personally pursuing
                the court cases of her husband and one Ram Singh Tihara a        c
                Khalistan Protagonist in the, Pun jab and Haryana High
                Court."

          The order of the Regional Passport Officer which was later con-
    firmed on appeal by the Chief Passport Officer was quashed by the            D
    High Court of Punjab and Haryana on the ground that there was no
    material for the conclusion of the Regional Passport Officer that
    impounding of the passport was necessary in the interests of the secu-
    rity and integrity of India and the security of India. The High Court
    expressed the view that the "Bhindrawala factor" stood eliminated
    long before the making of the order since Bhindrawala died on 6.6.84         E
    whereas the order impounding the passport was made on 18:8.84.
    According to the High Court it could not therefore be said that there
    was any danger in presenti from the activities of Smt. Charan jit Kaur.
    The High Court appeared to think that the order was made for the sole



I
    reason that Smt. Charanjit Kaur happened to be the wife of Dr. Jagjit'
    Singh Chauhan. The Union of India has preferred this appeal by special       F
    leave to this Court under Art.136 of the Constitution. The learned
    Additional Solicitor General submitted that there was information be-
    fore the Regional Passport Officer about the activities of the respon-
    dent which was prejudicial to the interests of the sovereignty and
    integrity of India and the security of India an:! that it was not open to
    the Court to assess the sufficiency or otherwise of the such informa-        G
    tion. He relied on the observations of this Court in Maneka Gandhi v.
    Union of India, [1978] 2 S.C.R. 621 where it was observed:

                "In matters such as, grant, suspension, impounding or
                cancellation of passports, the possible dealing of an indivi-
                dual with nationals and authorities of other States have to      H
     1084                  SUPREME COURT REPORTS            11987] 1 S.C.R.

                be considered. The contemplated or possible activities
A               abroad of the individual may have to be taken into account.
                There may be questions of national safety and welfare
                which transcend the importance of the individual"s inherent
                right to go where he or she pleases to go .... There can be
                no doubt whatsoever that the orders under Section 10(3)
B               must be based upon some material even if that material
                consists, in some cases, of reasonable suspicion arising
                from certain credible assertions made by reliable indivi-
                duals ... "

          The learned counsel for the respondent, on the other hand,
                                                                                J
     urged that there was no material whatsoever to indicate that the
c    respondent was involved in any sort of political or prejudicial activity
     and the High Court was right in holding that her passport had been
     impounded merely because she was the wife of Dr. Jagjit Singh
     Chauhan.

D        We think that the appeal has to be accepted. The fact that the
   respondent is the wife of Dr. Jagjit Singh Chauhan, 'Self-styled Presi-
   dent of the so-called National Council of Khalistan' is not an irrelevant
   circumstance though singly, by itself, it may appear innocuous. The
   circumstance has to be viewed in conjunction with other circum-              ..._
   stances. Here, we have the circumstance that the wife of the 'Self-
 E styled President of the so-called Khalistan' who is stationed in Eng-
   land has chosen to pay a visit to Punjab in these troubled days and to
   call on Bhindrawala the acknowledged leader of the militant Sikh
   movement in the company of Balbir Singh Sandhu, 'Self-styled Secret-
   ary .General of the National Council of Khalistan'. She was reported to       -~
   have come to India in the month of October, 1983, to see her mother
p who was said to be seriously ill. She tried to leave India on 18.8.1984.
   Her mother died in the month of November, 1985. In the context of
   the circumstance then existing and the materials available with the
   authorities, it can surely be said that the authorities were justified in
   suspecting her of being an emissary or a contact person between Dr.
   Chauhan and the Sikh militants in India. If the Regional Passport
G Officer though that she was likely to indulge in a manner detrimental
   to the sovereignty and integrity of India and the security of India, it
   cannot be said that he was acting on no material. We do not agree with
   the High Court that the 'Bhindranwala factor' was extinguished with
   the death of Bhindranwala. We do not understand the High Court's
   view at all. The movement which Bhindranwala represented has not
H died. Movements don't die with individuals. Nor do we understand the
                  U.0.I. v. SMT. CHARANJIT KAUR (REDDY, J.]             1085

    ·view of the High Court that there was no present danger on the date of     A
     impounding of the passport because that. was two months ·after
     Bhindranwa!a's death. We do not see any justification for treating
     such a recent event as an incident of the ancient past. We are satisfied
     that the order impounding the respondent's passport is based on relev-
     ant material and not merely on the sole circumstance that she is the
                                                                                B
     wife of Dr. Jagjit Singh Chauhan. The appeal is allowed, the judgment
     of the High Court is set aside and the Writ Petition is dismissed. We
     wish to add that it is always open to the authorities concerned to
     review the impounding order if they so desire. We are adding this
     sentence because Sri Hardev Singh argued that impounding the pass-
     port meant a permanent deprivation of the passport.
                                                                                c
           Before we part with the case we must express our strong disap-
    proval of the wholesale condemnation of the Medical Profession in
    India by the High Court, implicit in the following observation made by
    the High Court: "I may quote an actual case to highlight the ignorance
    of Indian Doctors about the latest techniques practised abroad". The
                                                                                D
    occasion for making the remark was the argument advanced on behalf
    of the respondent that he wanted to go back to England for better
    treatment of her ailments. We consider that the remark was totally
    uncalled for. The High Court also appeared to suggest that the
    Government of India should permit the respondent Charanjit Kaur to
    go back to England and in support of the suggestion relied on the
                                                                                E
    appeal of Late Prime Mininster Mrs. Indira Gandhi to General Zia to
    permit Begum Bhutto to go abroad for treatment. The reference to the
    appeal of Mrs. Gandhi fo. General Zia, in the context of the facts of
    this case, appears to us to be entirely irrelevant.




I
    P.S.S.                                                  Appeal allowed.