ivil Appeal No2793 of 1985
From the Judgment and Order dated 135
1985 of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in CWP No236 of 1985 B Datta Additional Solicitor General CV Subba Rao and P Parmeshwaran for Appellants
Hardev Singh and RS Sodhi for the Respondent
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by CHINNAPPA REDDY J
The passport of Smt
Charanjit Kaur wife of Dr Jagjit Singh Chauhan was impounded by the Re gional Passport Officer Delhi by an order dated August 18 1984
The reasons for the order were not furnished to her in view of the grave nature of her activities and serious implications in terms of sovereignty 1082 and integrity of India and the security of India in terms of Section 105 of the Passport Act 1967
The reasons are however to be found in the note made by the Regional Pass port Officer on the same day
Paragraphs 1 to 3 of the note are as follows Ref
Ministry of External Affairs New Delhi letter No VI405110284 dated 188
1984 relating to the activities of Smt
Charanjit Kaur wife of Shri Jagjit Singh Chauhan
Chauhan is reported to have links with Sikh extremists and may engage in activities detri mental to the security of India
She is also planning to leave India shortly
Reported activities detrimental to the security of India attract the provision of Section 103c of the Passport Act 1967
Due to the seriousness of the case and the likelihood of the subject trying to leave the country in public interest it is not consid ered necessary to issue a separate show cause notice
The same may however be incorporated in the impounding order
The right of the subject for appeal and the procedure in this regard may please also be explained in the impounding order as per the Rules
 The basis of the communication from the Ministry of External Affair to the Regional Passport Officer was the information furnished by the Intelligence Bureau in two letters to the following effect According to a report Charanjit Kaur wife of Dr Jagjit Singh Chauhan self styled President of the so called National Council of Khalistan who is now resident in UK is planning to leave India in the next few days
We are not aware of her passport particulars
There are reasons to believe that she has links with Sikh extremists and may engage in activities detrimental to the security of the country and therefore she should not be allowed to leave India
It is requested that the MHA may con sider the advisability of impounding her passport
 and 2
Our enquiries reveal that Smt
Charanjit Kaur is presently residing at Tanda and Nagal Khunga both in Hoshiarpur District
1083 3
Charanjit Kaur has not come to notice participating openly in political activities
She is however the wife of Dr Jagjit Singh Chauhan President of the so called National Council of Khalistan based in UK who has also been engaged in sustained anti India and secessionist activities
According to the disclosures made by   Smt
Charanjit Kaur and Balbir Singh Sandhu self styled Secretary General of the National Council of Khalistan used to hold frequent meetings in camera with Bhindrawala and his PA and they served as an important channel between Bhin drawala and his foreign links
Chanranjit Kaur has also been person ally pursuing the court cases of her husband and one Ram Singh Tihara a Khalistan Protago nist in the Punjab and Haryana High Court
 The order of the Regional Passport Officer which was later confirmed on appeal by the Chief Passport Officer was quashed by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana on the ground that there was no material for the conclusion of the Regional Passport Officer that impounding of the passport was necessary in the interests of the security and integrity of India and the security of India
The High Court expressed the view that the Bhindrawala factor stood eliminated long before the making of the order since Bhindrawala died on 6684 whereas the order impounding the passport was made on 18884
According to the High Court it could not therefore be said that there was any danger in presenti from the activities of Smt
Charanjit Kaur
The High Court appeared to think that the order was made for the sole reason that Smt
Charanjit Kaur happened to be the wife of Dr Jagjit Singh Chauhan
The Union of India has preferred this appeal by special leave to this Court under article 136 of the Consti tution
The learned Additional Solicitor General submitted that there was information before the Regional Passport Officer about the activities of the respondent which was prejudicial to the interests of the sovereignty and integri ty of India and the security of India and that it was not open to the Court to assess the sufficiency or otherwise of the such information
He relied on the observations of this Court in Maneka Gandhi vs Union of India 1978 2 SCR 621 where it was observed In matters such as grant suspension im pounding or cancellation of passports the possible dealing of an individual with nation als and authorities of other States have to 1084 be considered
The contemplated or possible activities abroad of the individual may have to be taken into account
There may be ques tions of national safety and welfare which transcend the importance of the individual s inherent right to go where he or she pleases to go 
There can be no doubt whatsoever that the orders under Section 103 must be based upon some material even if that material consists in some cases of reasonable suspi cion arising from certain credible assertions made by reliable individuals   The learned counsel for the respondent on the other hand urged that there was no material whatsoever to indi cate that the respondent was involved in any sort of politi cal or prejudicial activity and the High Court was right in holding that her passport had been impounded merely because she was the wife of Dr Jagjit Singh Chauhan
We think that the appeal has to be accepted
The fact that the respondent is the wife of Dr Jagjit Singh Chauhan Self styled President of the so called National Council of Khalistan  is not an irrelevant circumstance though singly by itself it may appear innocuous
The circumstance has to be viewed in conjunction with other circumstances
Here we have the circumstance that the wife of the Selfstyled President of the so called Khalistan  who is stationed in England has chosen to pay a visit to Punjab in these trou bled days and to call on Bhindrawala the acknowledged leader of the militant Sikh movement in the company of Balbir Singh Sandhu Self styled Secretary General of the National Council of Khalistan
She was reported to have come to India in the month of October 1983 to see her mother who was said to be seriously ill
She tried to leave India on 1881984
Her mother died in the month of November 1985
In the context of the circumstance then existing and the materials available with the authorities it can surely be said that the authorities were justified in suspecting her of being an emissary or a contact person between Dr Chauhan and the Sikh militants in India
If the Regional Passport Officer though that she was likely to indulge in a manner detrimental to the sovereignty and integrity of India and the security of India it cannot be said that he was acting on no material
We do not agree with the High Court that the Bhindranwala factor  was extinguished with the death of Bhindranwala
We do not understand the High Court s view at all
The movement which Bhindranwala represented has not died
Movements don t die with individuals
Nor do we under stand the 1085 view of the High Court that there was no present danger on the date of impounding of the passport because that was two months after Bhindranwala s death
We do not see any justi fication for treating such a recent event as an incident of the ancient past
We are satisfied that the order impounding the respondent s passport is based on relevant material and not merely on the sole circumstance that she is the wife of Dr Jagjit Singh Chauhan
The appeal is allowed the judg ment of the High Court is set aside and the Writ Petition is dismissed
We wish to add that it is always open to the authorities concerned to review the impounding order if they so desire
We are adding this sentence because Sri Harder Singh argued that impounding the passport meant a permanent deprivation of the passport
Before we part with the case we must express our strong disapproval of the wholesale condemnation of the Medical Profession in India by the High Court implicit in the following observation made by the High Court I may quote an actual case to highlight the ignorance of Indian Doctors about the latest techniques practised abroad
The occasion for making the remark was the argument advanced on behalf of the respondent that he wanted to go back to England for better treatment of her ailments
We consider that the remark was totally uncalled for
The High Court also ap peared to suggest that the Government of India should permit the respondent Charanjit Kaur to go back to England and in support of the suggestion relied on the appeal of Late Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi to General Zia to permit Begum Bhutto to go abroad for treatment
The reference to the appeal of Mrs Gandhi to General Zia in the context of the facts of this case appears to us to be entirely irrelevant
PSS Appeal allowed


Summary:
The respondent wife of a protagonist of Khalistan residing abroad during her visit to India was found meeting extremist leaders in Punjab
Her passport was impounded by the Regional Passport Officer under section 103c of the Passport Act 1967 in view of the grave nature of her activ ities and serious implications in terms of sovereignty integrity and security of the country
The reasons for the order were however not furnished to her in view of the provisions of section 105 of the Act
The order was confirmed on appeal by the Chief Passport Officer
The High Court took the view that there was no danger in presenti from respondent s activities and quashed the order on the ground that there was no material for the conclusion of the Passport Officer that impounding of the passport was necessary
In this appeal by Special Leave by the Union of India it was contended that there was information before the Regional Passport Officer justifying the order and it was not open to the Court to assess the sufficiency or otherwise of such information
On behalf of the respondent it was urged that there was no material whatsoever to indicate that the re spondent was involved in any sort of political or prejudi cial activity and that her passport had been impounded merely because she was the wife of a protagonist of Khalis tan
Allowing the Appeal the Court HELD 11 The order impounding the respondent s passport was based on relevant material
The fact that she was the wife of an extremist leader residing abroad was not an irrelevant circumstance though singly by itself it may appear innocu ous
That circumstance has to be viewed in conjunction with other circumstances
The respondent had chosen to visit Punjab in troubled days and to call on Sant 1081 Bhindranwala the acknowledged leader of the militant Sikh movement in the company of Balbir Singh Sandhu self styled Secretary General of the National Council of Khalistan
She was reported to have come to India in the month of October 1983 to see her mother who was said to be seriously iII
She tried to leave India on August 18 1984
The authorities were therefore justified in suspecting the respondent of being an emissary or a contact person between the extremist leader stationed abroad and the sikh militants in India
1084C G 12 If in the circumstances then existing and the mate rial available with him the Regional Passport Officer though that the respondent was likely to indulge in a manner detri mental to the sovereignty integrity and the security of India it could not be said that he was acting on no materi al
1084G 2
The High Court was wrong in assuming that the Bhin dranwala factor was extinguished with his death
Movements don t die with individuals
It could not also be said that there was no present danger on the date of the impounding of the passport because that was two months after Bhimiranwa la s death
There was no justification for treating such a recent event as an incident of the ancient past
1084G H 1085A B Maneka Gandhi vs Union of India 1978 2 SCR 621 referred to