Acquitted Person’s Passport Cannot Be Withheld: K’nataka HC

The Karnataka High Court has clarified that an acquitted accused cannot have their passport withheld based on the pending appeal period against the acquittal order.

A single-judge Justice M Nagaprasanna granted relief to Francis Xavier Crasto by allowing his petition and directing the concerned court to release his passport.

Crasto’s passport had been seized following an FIR related to a crime in which he was involved. However, the Sessions Court acquitted him on April 12, 2023, without issuing any order under Section 452 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) regarding the seized passport. Subsequently, Crasto filed an application under Section 452 of CrPC seeking the return of his passport.

The trial court rejected the application, citing the pending appeal period against the acquittal order as the reason. The High Court found this reasoning to be erroneous, stating that a seized passport cannot be withheld after the petitioner’s acquittal solely because an appeal may be filed against the order.

Consequently, the High Court allowed the petition and directed the concerned court to release the passport to the petitioner.