New Delhi, March 26 -- The Delhi High Court has held that passing an order impounding a passport before the expiry of the reply period and without considering the response of the affected person raises a clear issue of violation of natural justice.

Setting aside the order of a Single Judge, the High Court observed that such a case warranted the exercise of writ jurisdiction despite the availability of an alternative statutory remedy.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia noted that the final order impounding the appellant's passport was passed on August 3, 2021, even though the deadline to submit a reply to the show cause notice was August 4, 2021. The Court said that denying the appe...