Intelligence verification for retired judges’ passports ‘unreasonable, baseless’: HC

The High Court has observed that requiring retired judges to undergo intelligence verification to obtain ordinary passports is “completely unreasonable and baseless”.

The court said the state already verifies the status and identity of judges while they are serving in office, making any further intelligence verification after their retirement unnecessary.

The observation came in a judgment on a writ petition concerning passport-related complications faced by former Appellate Division Justice Muhammad Imman Ali.

The signed judgment of the High Court bench comprising Justice Fahmida Quader and Justice Md Asif Hasan was published on the Supreme Court website on Thursday (September 10).

The court directed the authorities to promptly issue and hand over ordinary passports to former Justice Imman Ali, all former judges of the Supreme Court and their wives without any additional intelligence verification.

Under the law and the ‘Warrant of Precedence’, Supreme Court judges and their wives are entitled to diplomatic passports. After retirement or resignation, they are required to surrender their diplomatic passports and apply for ordinary passports.

Previously, no intelligence report or clearance was required to issue such ordinary passports.

However, on 22 August 2024, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a memorandum introducing a new requirement for individuals surrendering diplomatic passports to obtain satisfactory reports or clearance from two intelligence agencies before receiving ordinary passports.

Following the decision, former Justice Imman Ali surrendered his diplomatic passport and applied for an ordinary passport on 3 November 2024.

However, he was not issued a passport as intelligence clearance had not been obtained, which also prevented him from travelling abroad.

Challenging the administrative obstacle, High Court Division Protocol Officer Md Roman Bhuiyan filed a writ petition with the permission of the Registrar General of the Supreme Court.

Following the preliminary hearing, the High Court issued a rule. The court published its judgment after the final hearing of the rule.

In the judgment, the court said that the state verifies the identity and integrity of judges while they serve in a prestigious constitutional position.

Therefore, requiring them to face bureaucratic complications or obtain clearance from intelligence agencies to receive ordinary passports after retirement is not lawful.