A report published by the Hindustan Times suggests the Supreme Court of India made it difficult for the state to confiscate or cancel passports in Maneka Gandhi’s case, dating back to 1978.
“The guidelines issued by the SC in her case make it difficult to confiscate or cancel passports unless the due process of law is followed,” a senior law ministry official told The Hindustan Times on the condition of anonymity.
WCD Minister has been pushing for severe punishing measures against the NRI husband who abuse or desert their wives. Cancellation of their passports is one of these measures.
According to the Hindustan Times report, in the 1978 Maneka Gandhi versus Union of India case, the apex court of India had observed that section 10 (3) of the Indian Passports Act under which the passport was confiscated violated her fundamental rights under Articles 14 and 21 of the constitution pertaining to right to equality and right to freedom and personal liberty.
"To the extent to which section 10(3)(c) of the Passport Act, 1967 authorises the passport authority to impound a passport “in the interest of the general public”, it is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution since it confers vague and undefined power on the passport authority," the judgement read.
An inter-ministerial committee, constituted in May last year to look into the matter of wives deserted by their NRI husbands, had recommended that either the properties of the husband or his relatives should be seized in such cases.
Cancellation of passports is also one of the proposals Indian authorities are pondering on.
According to the data collected by some non-government organisations working in Punjab, over 20,000 girls have not seen their husbands after their honeymoon.
According to a response filed by the government in the Lok Sabha, the Indian missions and posts abroad received 3,768 petitions from distressed Indian women on complaints related to dowry and ill-treatment by NRI husbands during 2014-17.
