Passport seizure and impounding are distinct: only the passport authority can impound, not Customs or the criminal court.

A passport may be seized during criminal investigation, but impounding is a distinct power that belongs only to the competent passport authority under the Passports Act, 1967. The special statutory regime prevails over the general procedure under the Code of Criminal Procedure, so Customs authorities and the criminal court cannot retain a passport by treating it as impounded. Because impounding affects the constitutional right to travel and carries civil consequences, it must follow the procedure prescribed by law. An attested copy may be kept for evidentiary purposes while the original is returned subject to conditions.

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Issues: Whether the passport of the accused could be retained or impounded by the Customs authorities or by the Court pending criminal proceedings, and whether the order refusing return of the passport was sustainable.

Analysis: The governing framework distinguished between seizure and impounding. A passport may be seized in the course of investigation under the Code of Criminal Procedure, but impounding can be done only by the passport authority in accordance with the Passports Act, 1967. The Court treated the right to travel as protected by Article 21 of the Constitution of India and noted that any impounding decision has civil consequences and must follow the statutory procedure. It further held that the special regime under the Passports Act prevails over the general provisions of criminal procedure, and that neither the Customs authorities nor the criminal court can assume the power to impound a passport. The retained passport could be preserved by keeping an attested copy for evidentiary purposes.

Conclusion: The order rejecting return of the passport was unsustainable, and the revision petition was allowed with a direction to return the passport subject to the conditions imposed by the Court.

Ratio Decidendi: A passport may be seized during investigation, but it can be impounded only by the competent passport authority under the Passports Act, 1967, not by the police, Customs authorities, or the criminal court under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

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