Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Principal bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court in Jabalpur has dismissed the objection raised by Nitish Bhardwaj against the renewal of the passports of his daughters. “Every citizen of India has Fundamental Right to obtain a passport and travel as per his/her own wish,” observed the court on Wednesday allowing the two girls to get their passports renewed.  

The court directed the officials to complete the formalities for renewal of passports of the two minor girls within a week. IAS officer Smita Bhardwaj, the estranged wife of the actor, had applied for renewal of the passports of her two minor daughters, scheduled to expire on January 16.

She had told the court that her two daughters have to visit the United Kingdom as they have been invited to Bharat Mahotsava scheduled to take place in the House of Lords and for special facilitation and book promotion from February 14 and 17 at University of Oxford during the Mahotsav.  Earlier, the passport officials had asked Smita Bhardwaj to obtain permission from her husband.

However, as Nitish raised strong objections to it, the passport official asked her to obtain permission from the court. She then filed a writ petition in the High Court for renewal of her daughters’ passports. However, the actor objected to it (passport renewal) and presented documents in court claiming that the programme in which his daughters were to participate was already organised. The court, however, found the documents fake and fabricated. The court rejected the actor’s objections, and directed the officials to complete the formalities for renewal of passports of the two minor girls within a week.

Divorcee case pending

Nitish Bhardwaj had applied before Family Court, Mumbai for obtaining a decree of divorce from his estranged wife Smita. The matter is still pending before the court, besides, the matter related to custody of minor daughters is also pending with the court.