Udayakumar’s passport impounded

The passport of S. P. Udayakumar, founder of the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), has been impounded, according to official sources.

A reliable source in the Regional Passport Office (Madurai) said the authorities had impounded Mr. Udayakumar’s passport on the ground that a case was pending against him and there was an arrest warrant too. The action was taken after issuing him a show-cause notice, the source told The Hindu . All airport and immigration authorities had been informed of the action.

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A case of unlawful assembly and other charges was registered by the Tirunelveli district police against Mr. Udayakumar as he had not sought police permission for a demonstration. In this connection, a warrant was issued by the Vallioor court.

When the passport of Mr. Udayakumar was impounded by the Regional Passport Officer last year, he had approached the High Court Bench in Madurai. The order of the Madurai Regional Passport Officer was quashed. In his order, Justice K. Chandru had then held that “mere registration of 98 FIRs against Mr. Udayakumar could not be a reason for impounding his passport under Section 10 (3) (e) of the Passports Act, 1967. In the cases on hand, there is no reference to the court in which the cases are pending and the criminal cases are only in the stage of FIRs…”

However, the passport office source said as an arrest warrant was pending against Mr. Udayakumar, the authorities could impound his passport after serving show-cause notice.