Hyderabad, April 15 -- The Telangana High Court has directed the Passport Authority to consider issuing a passport to minister Adluri Laxman Kumar, subject to submission of a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the court where criminal cases against him are pending.

The minister had moved the High Court after the authority refused to grant him a passport, citing multiple pending criminal cases.

Hearing the petition, Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka observed that the mere pendency of criminal cases cannot be a ground to deny a passport. The court noted that earlier judgments of the High Court had also taken a similar view, making it clear that such cases do not automatically disqualify an applicant from obtaining a passport.

Approach lower cou...