Madurai, Feb 10 (PTI) DMK MLA and former AIADMK minister, Anitha Radhakrishnan, filed a writ petition in the Madras High Court Bench here today seeking a direction to the Madurai Regional Passport Officer (RPO) to issue/return his passport, which he surrendered last year. Radhakrishnan also sought to quash the order of the RPO informing him that he was not recommended by the Tuticorin Superintendent of Police for the issue of the passport as he was involved in six criminal cases. Justice K K Sasidharan, admitting the writ petition ordered notice to the Tuticorin SP and RPO and posted the case after two weeks. Radhakrishnan, the Tiruchendur MLA, submitted he was issued passport under tatkaal scheme on Jun 17, 2008. Then he had surrendered the passport on Feb 14, 2011 after being asked to do so for police verification, he said. When he later approached the RPO to return his passport, Radhakrishnan said he was told some criminal cases were pending against him and police did not give him good verification certificate. The passport oficer was withholding the issuance of passport without any notice or holding any enquiry and giving him an opportunity to explain, Radhakrishnan said. The criminal cases filed against him were only poll-related cases, "filed with malafide intentions," he submitted. Those cases were pending before the investigating agencies, he said, adding under such circumstances the RPO or the SP had no authority to withhold his passport.
