Chennai: The Madras High Court has directed the Regional Passport Office and the Passport Seva Kendra to process and dispose of the passport application of A.G. Perarivalan, a convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, within four weeks, Live Law reported on Wednesday.

Source: Live Law

A bench of Justice P.T. Asha noted that no criminal case is pending against Perarivalan and that, although he had been sentenced to death in the assassination case, he was later set at liberty by the Supreme Court. The court held that the passport authority's reluctance to process the application solely on the ground that it was awaiting a report from the police department was not correct.

"Considering the fact that the petitioner has been set at liberty by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, the reluctance on the part of the Passport Authority to process the petitioner's passport application, solely on the ground that they were awaiting the report of the Police Department is not correct," the court said, in the order quoted by Live Law.

Source: Live Law

Perarivalan had moved the court seeking directions for his application to be processed and disposed of expeditiously. He submitted that he applied for a passport under the normal scheme through the Passport Seva online portal on May 6, 2024, and appeared for his appointment on October 21, 2024, when the application was registered and placed on hold pending police verification. He argued that despite completing all formalities, the application had remained pending for two years, causing him hardship and delaying his plan to go abroad for higher studies.

Issuing a writ of mandamus, the court directed the authorities to dispose of the application by treating the counter affidavit filed by the Inspector of Police of Jolarpettai police station in Thirupathur district as the police verification report, and to complete the exercise within four weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of the order. The Times of India also reported the High Court's direction to dispose of the application. Perarivalan's counsel in the case was Ms R.A. Parkavi, according to Live Law.