The Supreme Court on Monday held that without impounding of the passport, the Passport Authority cannot unauthorizedly retain a passport handed over by the Police in the name of a pending criminal case.
A division bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Rajesh Bindal was considering an appeal filed by a husband whose passport was handed over to the Passport Authority by the Police as he was being prosecuted for offences under Sections 498-A, 403 and 406 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 in a complaint filed by his wife.
https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/supreme-court-passport-passports-act-passport-impounding-233648