CUTTACK: In a significant ruling, the Orissa High Court has directed the state authorities to issue no objection certificate (NOC) to a government doctor for obtaining a passport, holding that refusal on the ground of pending disciplinary proceedings amounts to infringement of the fundamental right to personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Justice Sashikanta Mishra, while allowing a writ petition filed by Dr Ashok Kumar Behera, observed that the government’s decision to deny the NOC was legally unsustainable and unjustified. Dr Behera, a government doctor due to retire on January 31, 2026, had sought to visit his daughter residing in Singapore and had applied for a passport. His request for NOC, however, was rejected by the authorities citing his unauthorised absence and pendency of departmental and Vigilance proceedings.
The court noted that Dr Behera’s first application for NOC, made in 2022, had been rejected, and his subsequent application in 2024 was turned down again on similar grounds despite one of the disciplinary proceedings having been dropped and one Vigilance case ending in acquittal.
The state government, in its counter affidavit, reiterated that two departmental proceedings were still pending. “The Passport Act does not place an absolute bar for travel abroad on the ground of pendency of disciplinary proceedings (or criminal proceedings)... Therefore, this court has no hesitation in holding that letter dated 28.01.2014 serves to place an embargo on the fundamental right of a citizen to travel abroad,” Justice Mishra observed.
Concluding that the authorities’ refusal indirectly infringed Dr Behera’s right to liberty, the Court quashed the orders and directed the government to issue the NOC within six weeks.
Dr. Behera, a gynaecologist, was posted at the government hospital in Talcher when he was transferred to Boudh in 2014. But he submitted an application seeking cancellation of the transfer order. The authorities rejected the request. Subsequently, Dr Behera tendered his resignation in 2016, which too was rejected. The government initiated disciplinary proceedings against him for unauthorised absence by then as he had not reported for duty at Boudh.