Pending FIRs do not bar passport issuance unless cognizance is taken and court proceedings are actually pending.

Pendency of a First Information Report, without cognizance by a criminal court, does not amount to proceedings pending before a court for refusal of a passport under the Passports Act, 1967. Section 6(2)(f) applies only where proceedings in respect of an alleged offence are actually pending before a criminal court in India; mere FIR registration remains at the investigation stage. Once the Magistrate takes cognizance under Section 190 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the matter acquires the character of pending court proceedings. As the passport applications were rejected only on the basis of FIRs, the refusal was not justified and the applications had to be considered.

---

---

Issues: Whether pendency of a First Information Report, without cognizance having been taken by the criminal court, constitutes proceedings pending before the criminal court so as to justify refusal of passport under the Passports Act, 1967.

Analysis: The refusal power under Section 6(2)(f) of the Passports Act, 1967 applies only when proceedings in respect of an alleged offence are pending before a criminal court in India. Mere registration of an FIR remains at the investigation stage and does not amount to proceedings pending before court. Such proceedings acquire the character of pending court proceedings only when the Magistrate takes cognizance of the offence under Section 190 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. As the applications were rejected only on the basis of FIRs and not on the basis of cognizance or pending court proceedings, the refusal was not justified.

Conclusion: The petitioners were entitled to consideration of their passport applications notwithstanding the pending FIRs, and the passport authority could not mechanically refuse issuance on that basis.

---