Passport impounding must rest on recorded reasons and prior hearing; a vanished proclaimed-person basis could not sustain the order.

A passport impounding order affecting civil rights must be justified by the reasons recorded in the impounding memo itself, and those reasons cannot later be replaced by a fresh justification. Here, the stated basis was that the holder had been declared a proclaimed person, but that basis had ceased after appearance before the criminal court, grant of bail, and dropping of proclamation proceedings. The passport authority also failed to give prior notice or hearing despite the requirement to supply reasons under the governing provision. The impounding action was therefore unsustainable, and relief to the passport holder was upheld.

---

---

Issues: Whether the impounding of the passport was valid when the stated ground in the impounding communication was that the holder had been declared a proclaimed person, and whether the action could be sustained in the absence of prior notice and proper reasons.

Analysis: The impounding memo and the subsequent communication were tested only on the reasons actually recorded in them. The recorded basis was that the passport holder had been declared a proclaimed person, but that ground had ceased to operate once she appeared before the criminal court and was granted bail, and the proclamation proceedings were subsequently dropped. The passport authority did not give prior notice or a hearing, despite the mandatory requirement of supplying reasons under the governing provision. An administrative order affecting passport rights, which carries civil consequences, must stand or fall on the reasons stated in the order itself, and those reasons could not be substituted by a different justification at the appellate stage.

Conclusion: The impounding of the passport was unsustainable and the challenge to it succeeded.

Final Conclusion: The appellate court declined interference, sustained the quashing of the impounding action, and upheld the grant of relief to the passport holder with reduced costs.

Ratio Decidendi: A passport impounding order must be supported by the reasons recorded in the order and, where the stated basis has ceased to exist and no hearing was afforded where required, the order cannot be sustained by a different justification raised later.

---