1 Cri-A-281-11.sxw IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION Mhi CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO. 281 OF 2011 Jaspreet Singh Gurnam Singh & Ors. ... Applicants Vs. The State of Maharashtra ... Respondents Mr. Rajendra Shirodkar, a/w. Mr. Archit Sakhalkar & Nihar Ghag,Advocates, for the applicants Mr.V.B.Konde Deshmukh, APP, for the respondent - State. CORAM: J.H.BHATIA,J. DATE : 29th April, 2011. P.C. 1. Heard. 2. The applicant Nos. 1 to 3, who are Indian citizens and residents of different places in the State of Punjab, reported for immigration clearance at the Counter No.15 at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport at Mumbai as they intended to go to Argentina by flight from Mumbai. The Immigration Officer suspected that they may not be having genuine visa to go to Argentina and, therefore, all the three were detained and one Balasaheb Kakad, Assistant Inspector of Police attached to the Airport, lodged a report, which was registered as crime No. 615/2010 under Sections 465, 468. 471, 420 read with Section 34 of IPC at Sahar Police Station. The applicant Nos. 4 and 5 are travel agents, who had 2 Cri-A-281-11.sxw allegedly helped the applicant Nos. 1 to 3 in obtaining necessary documents for travelling abroad on the basis of the forged documents. The applicants seek to quash the said FIR and the proceedings therein on the ground that there was no material to register the offence against them. 3. The applicants have also produced the two letters dated 31.12.2010 and 31.1.2011 from the Consulate General and Promotion Centre of the Argentine Republic in Mumbai. As per the first letter, the said authorities confirmed that the applicant No.2 - Sunny Bagga holding Indian Passport No. E7130658 was going to Argentina sponsored by the World Organization for Peace and he was to perform agro-tourism for edducatinal purpose in Argentina, for a period of 60 days. It was confirmed that his Visa was valid and in force and his legal term to stay in Argentina would be 90 days from the date of his arrival in that country. The letter dated 31.1.2011 pertaining applicant No.1 Jaspreet Singh and applicant No.3 Baljinder Singh is also to the same effect. Genuineness of these two letters is not in dispute. Therefore, it is admitted that valid visa was issued by the Consulate General and Promotion Centre of the Argentine Republic in Mumbai, on the basis of which the applicants were trying to embark for journey abroad. 3 Cri-A-281-11.sxw 4. The learned APP contended that on the basis of the statements of the applicants, it appears that they had obtained visa on the basis of forged documents. Except this version of the prosecution, there is no material to support that they had used any forged documents to obtain visa. Firstly, when they sought the clearance from the Immigration Department, they produced the visa from the Argentine Authority and it is proved that those documents were in fact issued by the said authorities and are valid and therefore, there was no reason to stop them from travelling abroad. Anyhow, even if there was suspicion, that suspicion was cleared by the letters from the Argentine Authorities. Even though the Consulate General for Argentina in Mumbai, issued the said letters dated 31.12.2010 and 31.1.2011 and thus a period of 3 - 4 months has passed, prosecution could not collect a single document to show that the visa was procured by any of the applicants on the basis of any forged documents. Taking into consideration all these material, it is clear that without any reason, rhyme or justification, the offence was registered against the applicants and therefore, the said offence is liable to be quashed. 5. For the aforesaid reasons, the petition is allowed. The FIR No. 615/2010 registered at the Sahar Police Station is hereby quashed. The passports of the applicants lying with the police be returned to them within two weeks from this day. (J.H.BHATIA,J.)