06/08/2026
There is a quiet but profound message in the Calcutta High Court's recent judgment: a pending criminal case does not reduce a citizen to a second-class citizen. Far too often, the mere registration of a case—particularly under a stringent law like the PMLA—is treated as though it were a conviction. The Court has reminded us that our Constitution recognizes no such shortcut. Suspicion may trigger an investigation, but it cannot become the foundation for curtailing liberty.
The Passport Authority had confined the undertrial's passport renewal to one year solely because proceedings under the PMLA were pending. The High Court found this approach legally unsustainable. Unless the criminal court itself has imposed such a restriction, an executive authority cannot invent one in the name of caution. Administrative discretion must operate within the four corners of the law; it cannot wander into the territory reserved for judicial determination.
What makes this judgment important is that it goes beyond the question of passports. It reaffirms a principle that lies at the heart of constitutional democracy: an accusation is not evidence, and an undertrial is not a convict. The right to travel abroad may be regulated by law, but regulation is not synonymous with deprivation. If every pending prosecution were enough to curtail fundamental liberties, the constitutional guarantee of personal liberty would exist only on paper, vulnerable to the mere filing of a complaint.
In an era where the gravity of allegations often overshadows the rights of the accused, this judgment restores a much-needed sense of balance. The fight against economic offences is undoubtedly a legitimate state objective, but constitutional freedoms cannot become collateral damage in that pursuit. The rule of law demands neither blind sympathy for the accused nor unquestioning deference to the State. It demands fairness. And fairness begins with a simple proposition—that until guilt is proved in accordance with law, liberty remains the rule and restriction the carefully justified exception.
