Mere Renewal Of Passport No Leverage For Accused To Travel Abroad Says Delhi Court

A Delhi court has recently given its no-objection to a suspected middleman in a bribery case involving a top GAIL official for renewing his passport, stating its mere reissuance that would not give him the leverage to travel abroad on his free will.

The court passed the order on an application moved by Pawan Gaur, who allegedly acted as a middleman for GAIL Director (Marketing) ES Ranganathan by obtaining bribes from private companies buying petrochemical products marketed by the public sector company.

While granting relief, Special Judge Namrita Aggarwal noted that Gaur has not yet tried to evade the process of justice.
The application was opposed being by the CBI, which claimed that the accused might try to flee justice if the request was granted.

In a previous order passed, the judge stated, “Mere renewal of the passport would not give the leverage to the accused to travel abroad at his free will without seeking permission of the court.”

However, the judge, clarified that the order wasn’t a direction to the passport authorities to issue the document to the applicant.

The judge stated, “This is a no-objection from the court for the issuance of passport with a clarification that (the) court has no objection if the passport of the applicant is renewed for a period of 10 years. The applicant is directed to seek the permission of the court before leaving the country.”

Gaur and Ranganathan are accused in a Rs 50 lakh bribery case. They allegedly gave discounts to the private companies buying petrochemical products marketed by the ‘Maharatna’ public sector undertaking.

Ranganathan is also an accused in a separate case of amassing assets worth more than Rs 4.82 crore, disproportionate to his known sources of income, during 2017-22.