HC comes to rescue of aspiring Haj pilgrim, orders expeditious release of his passport

Coming to the rescue of an aspiring Haj pilgrim, facing the prospect of missing the last flight for pilgrimage, the Allahabad High Court today asked the Lucknow passport officer to hand over his passport by 12 noon tomorrow.

A Lucknow bench of the high court issued the order as an exceptional measure to facilitate petitioner Nisar Ahmad to catch the pilgrimage flight, the last one of which would be taking off on August 17.

Ahmad had moved the court for expeditious issuance of his passport, contending that he had completed all the formalities in time, but the passport authorities were delaying its release.

The bench of justices Shabihul Hasnain and Rajan Roy asked the passport officer to personally hand over Ahmad's vital travel document after Assistant Solicitor General S B Pandey told the court that the passport has been sanctioned and was being printed.

It would soon be sent to the petitioner through post, he said.

At this Ahmad's counsel submitted that his client's last flight for Haj was to take off on August 17 and with the passport authorities intending to send the document by post, it might take much longer in reaching him.

The court subsequently ordered the city passport authority to personally hand over Ahmad's passport between 10 am and 12 noon tomorrow, subject to the petitioner satisfying the authority about his identity and residential address.

The court also slated the matter for further hearing on 2 pm tomorrow to take stock of the progress in the case.