ORDER : This Crl. M.A has been filed seeking a direction from this court to permit the petitioner to apply for re-issue of the Passport of the applicant/appellant. The applicant/appellant stands convicted in S.C No.454/2019 on the file of the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Kollam, under Section 8 read with Section 7 and Section 10 read with Section 9 (1) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. He has been sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for three years and also to pay a fine of Rs.50,000/-. 2. Section 6 (2) (e) of the Passports Act, 1967 reads as follows:- “6. Refusal of passports, travel documents. etc. xxx xxx xxx (2) Subject to the other provisions of this Act, the passport authority shall refuse to issue a passport or travel document for visiting any foreign country under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 5 on any one or more of the following grounds, and on no other ground, namely: - xxx xxx xxx (e) that the applicant has, at any time during the period of five years immediately preceding the date of his application, been convicted by a court in India for any offence involving moral turpitude and sentenced in respect thereof to imprisonment for not less than two years;” A reading of Section 6 (2) (e) suggests that it creates a bar for the issuance of Passports to persons who have been convicted by any court in India for any offence involving moral turpitude and sentenced in respect thereof to imprisonment for not less than two years within a period five years immediately preceding the date of application for Passport. 3. The learned counsel appearing for the applicant/appellant submits that though there is a similar restriction in respect of persons against whom an offence is alleged to have been committed in terms of the provisions contained in Section 6 (2) (f) of the Passports Act, the Government of India has issued G.S.R 570 (E) dated 25-09-1993 which lays down the conditions upon which the authority can consider issuance/re-issue of Passports to persons facing criminal proceedings. It is submitted that when the criminal appeal has been admitted and the sentence has been suspended, as in this case, the petitioner should be entitled to obtain a Passport subject to the stipulations contained in the above G.S.R. 4. Heard the learned Public Prosecutor also. 5. It is submitted that when the criminal appeal has been admitted and the sentence has been suspended, as in this case, the petitioner should be entitled to obtain a Passport subject to the stipulations contained in the above G.S.R. 4. Heard the learned Public Prosecutor also. 5. Having heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Public Prosecutor, I am certain that Crl.M.A filed by the applicant/appellant cannot be allowed. 6. As already noticed above, the provisions of sub-section (2) of Section 6 of the Passports Act, 1967 use the words 'shall refuse', which in the absence of other indications should be treated as imperative. Considering the background in which the word 'shall' has been used in Section 6 (2), there is no warrant to read the provision otherwise. A perusal of G.S.R. 570 (E) dated 25.8.1993 issued by the Ministry of External Affairs would show that the same is issued in the exercise of the power of the Central Government under Section 22 of the Passports Act, 1967. Section 22 of the Passports Act, 1967 reads as follows:- “22. A perusal of G.S.R. 570 (E) dated 25.8.1993 issued by the Ministry of External Affairs would show that the same is issued in the exercise of the power of the Central Government under Section 22 of the Passports Act, 1967. Section 22 of the Passports Act, 1967 reads as follows:- “22. Power to exempt – Where the Central Government is of the opinion that it is necessary or expedient in the public interest so to do, it may, by notification in the Official Gazette and subject to such conditions, if any, as it may specify in the notification,- (a) exempt any person or class of persons from the operation of all or any of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder; and (b) as often as may be, cancel any such notification and again subject, by a like notification, the person or class of persons to the operation of such provisions.” G.S.R 570(E), reads thus:- G.S.R. 570(E) exercise of the powers conferred by clause (a) oi Section 22 of the Passports Act 1967 (15 of 1967) and in supersession the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of External Affairs No. G.S.R. 298 (E), dated the 14th April, 1976, the Central Government, being of the opinion that it is necessary in public interest to do so, hereby exempts citizens of India against whom proceedings in respect of an offence alleged to have been committed by them are pending before a criminal court in India and who produce orders from the court concerned permitting them to depart from India, from the operation of the provisions of Clause (f) of sub-section (2) of Section 6 of the said Act, subject to the following conditions, namely:- (a) the passport to be issued to every such citizen shall be issued— (i) for the period specified in order of the court referred to above, if the court specifies a period for which the passport has to be issued; or (ii) if no period either for the issue of the passport or for the travel abroad is specified in such order, the passport shall be issued for a period one year; (iii) if such order gives permission to travel abroad for a period less than one year, but does not specify the period validity of the passport, the passport shall be issued for one year; or (iv) if such order gives permission to travel abroad for a period exceeding one year, and does not specify the validity of the passport, then the passport shall be issued for the period of travel abroad specified in the order. (b) any passport issued in terms of (a) (ii) and (a) (iii) above can be further renewed for one year at a time, provided the applicant has not travelled abroad for the period sanctioned by the court; and provided further that, in the meantime, the order of the court is not cancelled or modified; (c) any passport issued in terms of (a) (i) above can be further renewed only on the basis of a fresh court order specifying a further period of validity of the passport or specifying a period for travel abroad;(d) the said citizen shall give an undertaking in writing to the passport issuing authority that he shall, if required by the court concerned, appear before it at any time during the continuance in force of the passport so issued.” The body of the notification shows that the exemption under G.S.R 570(E) is only in respect of clause (f) of sub-section (2) of Section 6 of the Passports Act and subject to the conditions specified in the notification. When a person has been convicted by a Criminal Court, the prohibition arises from clause (e) of sub-section (2) of Section 6 of the Passports Act. There appears to be no exemption whatsoever in G.S.R.570(E) in respect of clause (e) of sub-section (2) of Section 6 of the Passports Act. Therefore, a person suffering a conviction and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years for an offence involving moral turpitude cannot be issued with a passport. In the facts of this case, the applicant has been convicted under the POCSO Act for three years. That an offence under the POCSO Act is an offence involving moral turpitude cannot be doubted. Therefore, the applicant is not entitled to the relief prayed for. The Crl.M.A is dismissed.