IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF DECEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA WRIT PETITION NO : 26731 of 2008 Between: Smt. P. Manju, W/o. M. Pratap Reddy, R/o. H.No. 2C, 1st Floor, Neelasr Apartments, Maruthi Nagar, Kadapa. ..... PETITIONER AND The Regional Pass Port Officer, Regional Pass Port Office, Hyderabad, Near Prashant Theatre, Secunderabad. .....RESPONDENT Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court will be pleased to issue an appropriate writ, order or direction preferably one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus, declaring the action of the respondent in not issuing renewed pass port to the petitioner pursuant to her application bearing No. E-352498 dated 1-9-2008, as arbitrary, illegal and unjust and consequently direct the respondent to issue the renewed Pas Port in favour of the petitioner forthwith; Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.P.RAMABHOOPAL REDDY Counsel for the Respondent No.: MR.A.RAJASHEKAR REDDY (ASST SOLICITOR GEN) The Court made the following : O R D E R:- This writ petition is filed seeking a mandamus to declare the action of the respondent in not renewing the petitioner’s Passport in pursuance of her application dated 1.9.2008, as arbitrary and illegal. The petitioner asserts that she has a Passport bearing No.A 7484068, which is valid up to 24.3.2009. Her husband is working in Abudabi and with a view to getting her child admitted in an educational institution in Abudabi at an early date, she made an application dated 1.9.2008 in the prescribed form at the office of the respondent i.e. Passport Application Collection Centre at Tirupati for renewal of her passport well in advance as the renewed passport is necessary to apply for VISA. Now, the petitioner’s grievance is that though the provisions contemplated under the Passports Act, 1962 empower the respondent-Regional Passport Officer to renew Passports in advance after conducting proper enquiry and following due process of law, her passport has not been renewed so far. Heard the learned counsel for both the parties and perused the material placed on record. It is apparent from the averments made in the writ affidavit that the petitioner has a Passport valid up to 24.3.2009 and her husband is working at Abudabi, and because of some urgency with regard to the admission of her child in an educational institution in Abudabi, she applied for renewal of her passport well in advance as the renewed passport is necessary to apply for VISA. The petitioner’s grievance appears to be genuine. Hence, this writ petition is allowed at the stage of admission and the respondent is hereby directed to consider the petitioner’s application dated 1.9.2008 and issue a renewed Passport to her at the earliest, preferably within a period of ten days from today. No costs. ______________ 15.12.2008 Note: Furnish copy in three days B/o bcj