Manish Gulabchand Birawat Vs State of Maharashtra and Anr (Bombay High Court)
Summary: The Bombay High Court ruled in favor of Manish Gulabchand Birawat, deleting a bail condition that restricted his overseas travel and required his passport to be retained by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI). The applicant, citing a prior ruling in a co-accused’s case, argued that the condition was onerous and violated Sections 10(3)(e) and 10-A of the Passports Act, 1967. The court observed that passport retention amounted to an indirect impounding, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Passport Authority, not the court. Given that the applicant had complied with past travel conditions and had no criminal antecedents, the court found the restriction unjustified. The ruling allows the applicant to retain his passport but requires him to submit travel details to the DRI before any international trips.
1.Heard Dr. Kantila, learned Advocate for Applicant and Mr. Haldankar, learned APP for Respondent No.1 – State of Maharashtra. None appears for Respondent No.2 – DRI.
2. Present Application is filed seeking deletion of bail condition No.3 imposed vide order dated 21.05.2021 which is appended at Exhibit “A” – page No.27 of the Application. The said condition No.3 is reflecting on page No.28 of the Application and it reads thus:-
” 3. Applicants are directed not to leave India without prior permission of the Court and DRI Department is allowed to retain their passport until further orders and applicants to submit their passport with department within three days after their release.”
3. Dr. Kantawala, learned Advocate for Applicant has placed before me the order dated 05.02.2025 passed in Criminal Bail 1 of 5 Application No.434 of 2024 filed by one of the co-accused in the same crime. An identical order with the same condition No.3 on the same date was passed in the case of the said co-accused also. Applicant therein namely co-accused in the same crime as also the DRI namely the Investigating Authority were heard fully by the Court. A detailed reasoned order dated 05.02.2025 appended at Exhibit “J” – page No.42 of the Application was passed by the Court after hearing the parties on merits.
