JUDGMENT : 1. The writ petitioner was issued with a passport in the year 1997. The passport was reissued periodically. Its validity expired on 22.06.2017. The petitioner sought re-issuance of the said passport. The respondent declined to do so. This was because the petitioner was entangled in a criminal case. The petitioner informed the respondent that the said prosecution ended in acquittal in S.C. No. 185/2013 on the file of the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Madurai on 20.09.2017. The petitioner was called upon to produce a copy of the said judgment. The petitioner did so. Even thereafter the respondent has not re-issued the petitioner’s passport. That necessitated the filing of this writ petition. 2. When the matter taken up for hearing, the learned Additional Solicitor General informed the Court that questioning the judgment of acquittal passed in favour of the writ petitioner, the State had gone for an appeal and the same is pending in C.A.No. 161 of 2017 before the IV Additional District and Sessions Judge, Madurai. 3. The learned Additional Solicitor General therefore placing reliance on a notification bearing G.S.R.No. 570 (E) dated 25.08.1993 submitted that the petitioner should move the Appellate Court and get permission from the said Court. He called upon this Court to dismiss this writ petition and relegate the petitioner to move the Appellate Court which is seized of the Crl.A.No. 161 of 2017. 4. I am of the view that the applicant for issuance of a passport should be relegated to move the criminal Court in question only if the prosecution is still actively pending. In the present case, admittedly, the writ petitioner has been acquitted. What is pending is only an appeal against acquittal. If the applicant was convicted for any offences and he had filed an appeal questioning his conviction and sentence, then the applicant will obviously have to go before the concerned Court. Since the applicant had been acquitted, I am of the view that this Court can grant relief in these proceedings itself instead of relegating him to go before the Appellate Court. 5. In this view of the matter, the respondent is directed to reissue the passport to the petitioner based on the petition mentioned application within a period of four weeks subject to fulfilment of other formalities. Accordingly, this writ petition is allowed. No costs.