Jabalpur: Hearing a petition for the passport renewal of minors, the Madhya Pradesh High Court said the permission of the father is not a necessity and directed the Regional Passport Office (RPO) in Bhopal to complete the formalities in a week.
The petition was moved by Smita Bhardwaj, wife of actor Nitish Bhardwaj, for their minor daughters — Devayani and Shivranjani. The petitioner said she applied for the passport renewal of her offspring for their travel to Oxford University in the UK to participate in the Bharat Mahotsav event.
The Bhopal passport office had informed the father about the application, to which he objected by saying the information was wrong as the event for 2024 was over and no schedule had been fixed for 2025, leading to the refusal of the renewal. The office asked her to obtain permission from the high court.
The petitioner further said a divorce application between the Bhardwajs is pending with the Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Mumbai's Bandra where the mother had applied for passport renewal. Following the objection by the father another petition was filed in the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
Hearing the petitioner, represented by senior advocate Naman Nagarath, the single bench of Justice Vinay Saraf observed that until any court imposes a ban on passport renewal the consent of the father is not required as the right to travel falls in the purview of the fundamental right and the Passport Act of 1967 doesn't mandate consent of father for renewal.
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