Srinagar, July 4: High Court has directed the State Government to issue passports in favour of two students who want to pursue higher studies abroad saying the grounds for rejection of travel documents should not be linked to the adverse report of their relative.  
 “In the event where the relative of the petitioner has got adverse report, this shall not be ground of rejection or refusal of passport in favour of the petitioner”, the Court order revealed.
 Pronouncing the order in case of Muhammad Zuhaib Ronga who required a passport for pursuing higher studies abroad, the Court held that the petitioner should get the passport within seven days.
 “The passport officer shall take necessary steps for issuance of passport in favour of the petitioner within a week”, the Court said.  
 Vacation Court of Justice Hakim Imtiyaz also directed the Inspector General of CID to take up the matter personally to find out the present status of police report and furnish the same to the passport officer by July, 15.
 Counsel for the petitioner, Mir Shafqat argued before the Court that his petitioner was currently pursuing Master of Business Administration at Oxford University affiliated with Bangalore University and wanted to go abroad for higher studies, but was facing difficulty in getting the passport.
 The counsel informed the Court that his petitioner was allegedly denied the passport on the grounds that his uncle was involved in subversive activities.
 In a similar case, passport was also allegedly denied to Muhammad Manan, cousin of Zuhaib who also wanted to pursue higher studies abroad.
 Manan’s counsel pleaded in the Court that denying a passport to his petitioner would adversely affect his career.
 Pertinently, there are thousands of applicants whose passports have been put on hold by the Government agencies on the grounds that their relatives were allegedly involved in subversive activities.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 4 Jul 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 4 Jul 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 5 Jul 2011 00:00:00 IST