Travel rights can’t be denied on speculations, rules IIOJK HC
Srinagar: The High Court of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir has ruled that a person cannot be denied a passport solely because their family members are involved in pro freedom activities.
According to Kashmir Media Service, this decision was delivered by Justice M.A. Chaudhary while hearing a petition filed by Mohammad Amir Malik, a resident of the Ramban district of IIOJK. Malik had applied for a passport in September 2021, but his application was rejected following a negative police report. The police had referred to Malik’s brother, who had been associated with pro-freedom activities and was killed by Indian forces in a fake encounter in 2011. The police report also mentioned his father, claiming that he had been sympathetic to freedom activists. The court stated that an individual’s right to travel cannot be restricted based on speculation or the activities of others.
Justice M.A. Chaudhary’s bench ruled that the eligibility for a passport should be based on the individual’s own conduct, not on mere assumptions about potential threats. The judgment further stated that the authorities would only have grounds to reject an application if there was concrete evidence linking the individual to subversive activities.
Malik, who holds a diploma in engineering, told the court that he wished to travel abroad for better job opportunities, but he was unfairly denied a passport.
