Srinagar (Jammu and Kasmir): Iltija Javed, the daughter of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and PDP President Mehbooba Mufti, has filed a petition in the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh contesting the issuance of a conditional passport that limits her travel overseas. The court has posted the matter to July 19 for next hearing.
Iltija has been confined to travel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Iltija filed a petition with the court on Friday contesting the matter and objected to the passport's 2-year validity period (until April 2025), which is less than the 10-year average for passports. A bench of Justice Sanjay Dhar, while hearing the matter issued a notice to the Jammu and Kashmir government asking it to submit a response within two weeks in the matter.
Deputy Solicitor General of India, TM Shamsi received the notice on behalf of the government.In her petition, Iltija stated: "The right to travel abroad inheres in right to life and liberty as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The expression 'personal liberty' in Article 21 of the Constitution of India takes in, the right to travel abroad.
Also read: Issuing conditional passport is violation of fundamental rights: Iltija Mufti
This right cannot be curtailed except in accordance with the procedure established by law." Senior Advocate Jahangir Iqbal, Iltija's counsel, said that placing limits on the issuance of her passport was an “arbitrary restriction that infringed on her freedom to international travel, which is protected by the Indian Constitution”.
He also informed the Court that the decision to prevent Iltija from traveling overseas is thus unlawful and in violation of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. While referring to rule 12 of the Passport Rules, 1980, he also stated that a passport should be valid for ten years from the date of issue. It was argued that the government should be ordered to provide her a passport with a 10-year validity and no travel-restricting endorsements.
The court posted to July 19 for the next hearing after hearing the arguments from both the sides. Earlier this month, Iltija's mother Mehbooba Mufti was granted a passport with a ten-year validity. This comes after the Delhi High Court in March directed the J&K government and the Regional passport office to make a decision about the issuance of a new full-term passport to the PDP leader within three months.
On May 31, 2019, Mehbooba's passport expired. But once Article 370 was abrogated on August 5 of that year, the PDP leader was detained and eventually freed after 14 months. After being freed in 2020, the former CM applied for a new passport, however she was denied one due to the negative CID report against her.
Mehbooba then wrote to S Jaishankar, minister of external affairs, about the situation and requested his help. She eventually had to file a direction request with the Delhi High Court in March this year.
