The Madras High Court on Wednesday permitted DMDK leader Premalatha Vijayakant to travel to Dubai, where her husband and party president Vijayakant has already gone for treatment. The court directed the regional passport officer in Chennai to return her passport on submission of an affidavit containing her itinerary.
Justice R. Mahadevan also ordered that she should undertake to appear, whenever necessary, either before the RPO or the courts where a couple of criminal cases are pending against her. Senior counsel P. Wilson said it was unfair on the part of the RPO to have impounded her passport citing the criminal cases.
Claiming that she was yet to receive any summons from the courts concerned in those cases, the senior counsel said the impounding of the passport had made it impossible for her to accompany her husband when he required her the most. He argued that the RPO’s insistence on obtaining a no-objection certificate from the trial courts concerned was arbitrary and illegal.
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Finding force in his submissions, the judge said, “The petitioner intends to travel abroad only for her husband's treatment. Therefore, this court, to meet the ends of justice, is inclined to grant permission to the petitioner to travel abroad, subject to certain conditions.” He directed the petitioner to appear before the RPO, along with the passport, upon returning to India.