Archive · 13 Dec 2025
Telangana HC rejects US techie's plea for 10-year passport renewal
A woman named Nidhi Agarwal, who lives in the US and works as a software engineer, asked the Telangana High Court to renew her passport for 10 years.
However, the court said no because she is involved in a dowry case in India.
The court told her to ask the criminal court handling her case for permission to get a longer-validity passport.
The court also said that the rules about passport validity for people with pending criminal cases are fair.
Her current passport will expire in January 2026, and because of the case, she can only renew it for one year at a time.
Telangana High Court rejected Nidhi Agarwal's plea for a 10-year passport renewal.
Agarwal is an accused in a pending dowry case, restricting her passport renewal to one year.
The court directed her to approach the criminal court for permission to get a longer-validity passport.
The court affirmed that rules restricting passport validity for those with pending criminal cases are fair.
Agarwal's current passport expires in January 2026.
- Who
- Nidhi Agarwal, a US-based software engineer and accused in a dowry case
- What
- Telangana High Court rejected her plea for a 10-year passport renewal
- When
- The decision was made on Friday
- Where
- Telangana High Court, India
- Why
- Because she is an accused in a pending criminal case, passport renewal is restricted to one year
- Petitioner
- Nidhi Agarwal
- Current Passport Validity
- Expires in January 2026
- Pending Case
- Dowry case
- Court's Decision
- Rejected 10-year renewal, directed to approach criminal court
- Court's Reasoning
- Rules for pending criminal cases are neither arbitrary nor unreasonable