Subordinate courts can modify their order: HC

As per the case, the original passport of the petitioner Mannamu Sreemannarayana was detained by the Central Crime Branch (CCB). Thereafter, he moved the Judicial Magistrate, Alandur, seeking permission totravel abroad.

The court granted him permission to get the passport and to visit foreign countries for eight months.

Now, citing the aspect that he was presently residing at Singapore where he is working while the CCB was yet to complete the investigation and file the final report, he sought the Alandur court to extend the time granted by a year, which expires on May 27, 2019, to enable him stay at Singapore.

But the Alandur court returned his petition on the ground that it does nothave the power to modifythe order.

However, when the plea came before him, Justice Anand Venkatesh said, “This court is of the considered view that the Alandur court itself should have considered the application and should have passed appropriate orders extending the period of passport, after taking into consideration the facts and circumstances of the case. The court ought not to have returned the application, since the court which imposes the condition always has the right to modify the same,” the judge added, while directing the Alandur court to pass appropriate orders extending the period of passport within a week.