CHENNAI: The Madras High Court directed the Regional Passport Officer to issue Congress leader Karti P Chidambaram a passport with a validity of 10 years.
Justice Anita Sumanth passed the orders on Thursday based on a petition filed by Karti. The judge directed Karti to hand over the passport after receiving it from the RPO to the criminal court and instructed him to obtain permission from the criminal court whenever he wished to travel abroad.
Karti filed the petition after the RPO told him that his passport, which expired on March 5, 2024, would be renewed only for a year as he was facing criminal charges.
Appearing for Karti, senior counsel P Wilson told the high court that there were no grounds to deny him a passport with a validity of 10 years and that the cases against Karti were politically motivated.
He said Karti has to obtain permission from the criminal court whenever he wishes to leave the country, and his travel abroad is regulated by such court but has nothing to do with his passport’s validity.