Supreme Court of India

Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India

Neutral citation

Bench M. H. Beg, Y.V. Chandrachud, P.N. Bhagwati, V.R. Krishna Iyer, N. L. Untwalia, S. Murtaza Fazal Au and P. S. Kailasam JJ.

Decided 25 January 1978

Status Distinguished

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97 Supreme Court benches have cited this judgment.

What the Court ordered

Having regard to the majority view, and, in view of the statement made by the learned Attorney-General to which reference has already been made in the judgments we do not think it necessary to formally interfere with the impugned order. We, accordingly, dispose of the Writ Petition without passing any formal order. The passport will remain in the custody of the Registrar of this Court until further orders. There will be no order as to costs.

Judgment, Order, p. 776

From the headnote

Constitution of India Articles 14, 19 (1) (a) and 21-Personal liberty Whether right to go abroad is part of personal liberty-Whether a law which tomplies with Article 21 has still to meet the challenge of Article 19.-Nature and ambit of Article 14-ludging validity with reference to direct and inevitable cOect-Whether the right under Article 19(1) (a) has any geographical limitation. Pnssports Act, 1967-Ss. 3,5,6,10(3) (c), 10(5)-Whether s,lO (3 )(c)___ is violative of Articles 14, 19(1) (a) (b) & 21-Grounds for refusing to gram passport-Whether the power to impound passport arbitrary-"in…

Authorities it was built on

1973 E. P. Royappa v. State of Tamil Nadu & Anr. cited by 152
1969 A. K. Kraipak & Ors. Etc. v. Union Of. India & Ors. cited by 83
1960 Kavalappara Kottarathil Kochuni and Others v. The State of Madras and Others cited by 46
1959 Hamdard Dawakhana (wakf) Lal Kuan, Delhi and Another v. Union of India and Others cited by 26
1960 Babu Barkya Thakur v. State of Bombay and Others cited by 23
1959 Ct. A. Ct. Nachiappa Chettiar and Others v. Ct. A. Ct. Subramaniam Chettiar cited by 10

Where later benches applied it

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2022 Mohd. Firoz v. State of Madhya Pradesh relied on
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2020 Amish Devgan v. Union of India and Others relied on
2020 Nisha Priya Bhatia v. Union of India & Anr. relied on
2020 Chebrolu Leela Prasad Rao & Ors. v. State of A.P. & Ors. relied on
2018 Justice K. S. Puttaswamy (retd.) v. Union of India & Ors. relied on
2018 Navtej Singh Johar & Ors. v. Union of India Thr. Secretary Ministry of Law and Justice relied on
2018 Dilawar v. The State of Haryana & Anr. relied on
2017 Asfaq v. State of Rajasthan & Ors. relied on
2016 Anita Kushwaha v. Pushap Sudan relied on
2015 Shabnam v. Union of India & Ors relied on
2013 M/s Kulja Industries Limited v. Chief Gen. Manager W.T. Proj. Bsnl and Ors. relied on
2013 Mohan Lal & Anr v. State of Punjab relied on
2012 Namit Sharma v. Union of India relied on
2012 State of Punjab v. Dalbir Singh relied on
2011 State of Tamil Nadu & Ors. v. K. Shyam Sunder & Ors. relied on
2026 Anurag Krishna Sinha v. State of Bihar followed
2024 Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India v. Delhi International Airport Ltd. & Ors. followed
2023 Amandeep Singh Saran v. State of Chhattisgarh followed
2023 Supriyo @ Supriya Chakraborty & Anr v. Union of India followed
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2023 Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited v. Union of India & Ors. followed
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2022 Union of India & Anr. v. M/s. Ganpati Dealcom Pvt. Ltd. followed
2020 M. Ravindran v. The Intelligence Officer, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence followed
2019 State of Bihar & Ors. v. The Bihar Secondary Teachers Struggle Committee, Munger & Ors. followed
2018 Dr. Subhash Kashinath Mahajan v. The State of Maharashtra and Anr. followed
2016 State of Punjab & Anr. v. Brijeshwar Singh Chahal & Anr. followed
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2025 Ram Charan & Ors. v. Sukhram & Ors. referred to
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2025 Krishnadatt Awasthy v. State of M.P. & Ors. referred to
2025 Bhupinderpal Singh Gill v. State of Punjab and Others referred to
2024 State of Andhra Pradesh and Others v. Dr. Rao, V.B.J. Chelikani and Others referred to
2024 Central Organisation for Railway Electrification v. M/s Eci Spic Smo Mcml (jv) A Joint Venture Company referred to
2024 Property Owners Association & Ors. v. State of Maharashtra & Ors. referred to
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2023 Enforcement Directorate, Government of India v. Kapil Wadhawan & Anr. Etc referred to
2023 Arup Bhuyan v. State of Assam & Anr. referred to
2023 Anushka Rengunthwar & Ors v. Union of India & Ors. referred to
2023 Kaushal Kishor v. State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors. referred to
2023 Vivek Narayan Sharma v. Union of India referred to
2022 Satyajit Kumar & Ors. v. The State of Jharkhand & Ors. referred to
2022 Noel Harper & Ors. v. Union of India & Anr. referred to
2021 Pratap Technocrats (p) Ltd. & Ors. v. Monitoring Committee of Reliance Infratel Limited & Anr. referred to
2021 Ajit Mohan & Ors. v. Legislative Assembly National Capital Territory of Delhi & Ors. referred to
2021 University of Delhi v. Delhi University Contract Employees Union & Ors. referred to
2021 Rajeev Suri v. Delhi Development Authority & Ors referred to
2020 Tofan Singh v. State of Tamil Nadu referred to
2020 Mukesh Singh v. State (narcotic Branch of Delhi) referred to
2020 Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India & Ors. referred to
2019 Shrimanth Balasaheb Patil v. Hon’ble Speaker, Karnataka Legislative Assembly and Others referred to
2019 Haribhai Malaviya and Ors. v. The State of Gujarat and Anr. referred to
2018 Joseph Shine v. Union of India referred to
2018 Government of Nct of Delhi v. Union of India & Another referred to
2017 Nikesh Tarachand Shah v. Union of India & Anr. referred to
2017 Independent Thought v. Union of India & Anr. referred to
2017 Justice K S Puttaswamy (retd.), and Anr. v. Union of India and Ors. referred to
2016 Jindal Stainless Ltd. & Anr v. State of Haryana & Ors referred to
2016 Subramanian Swamy v. Union of India, Ministry of Law & Ors. referred to
2015 Rajbala & Others v. State of Haryana & Others referred to
2015 Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (retd.) &another v. Union of India & Others referred to
2015 Mis. Dharampal Satyapal Ltd. v. Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise, Gauhati & Ors. referred to
2014 Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors. referred to
2014 Union of India & Ors. v. Atulshukla referred to
2014 Dr. Subramanian Swamy v. Director, Centeral Bureau of Investigation & Anr. referred to
2014 Union of India and Others v. Major S.P. Sharma and Others referred to
2013 Suresh Kumar Koushal and Another v. Naz Foundation and Others referred to
2013 Lalita Kumari v. Govt. of U.P. and Ors. referred to
2013 Rajendra Nagar Adarsh Grah Nirman Sahkari Samiti Ltd. v. State of Rajasthan & Ors. referred to
2013 Sukhdev Singh v. Union of India and Ors. referred to
2013 Devender Pal Singh Bhullar v. State of N.C.T. of Delhi referred to
2012 Re: Special Reference N0.1 of 2012 v. -- referred to
2012 Lalita Kumari v. Government of U.P. & Others referred to
2012 In Re: Ramlila Maidan Incident Dt.4/5.06.2011 v. Home Secretary, Union of India & Ors. referred to
2012 Darshan Lal Nagpal (dead) by L.rs. v. Government of Nct of Delhi and Others referred to
2011 Rajesh Kumar v. State through Govt. of Nct of Delhi-ii referred to
2011 K.T. Plantation Pvt. Ltd. & Anr v. State of Karnataka referred to
2011 Justice P. D. Dinakaran v. Hon'ble Judges Inquiry Committee & Ors. referred to
2011 Sri Radhy Shyam (d) through Lrs. & Ors. v. State of U.P. & Ors. referred to
2009 Gurmej Singh v. State of Punjab & Anr. referred to
2009 Uma Nath Pandey and Ors. v. State of U.P. and Anr. referred to
2008 M/s Nagarjuna Construction Co. Ltd. v. Govt. of Andhra Pradesh and Ors. referred to
2013 State of Maharashtra & Anr. v. Indian Hotel & Restaurants Assn. & Ors mentioned
2011 Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association v. The Designated Authority & Ors. mentioned
2013 Mohd. Jamal v. Union of India & Anr. not applicable
2012 Union of India & Ors. v. Dinesh Prasad not applicable

Of those, 19 relied on · 13 followed · 61 referred to · 2 mentioned · 2 not applicable

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