By IANS
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court will hear on October 23 a plea by Hasina Ibrahim Parker, sister of 1993 Mumbai blasts prime accused Dawood Ibrahim, questioning the Indian government's refusal to issue her a passport.
The court also issued notice to the central government to reply to Parker's plea by October 23.
In an application filed on April 20, Parker, who has been booked by the Mumbai Police on extortion charges, maintained that it was her fundamental right to acquire a passport and travel abroad as a free citizen.
Thus, the December 5, 2006 order of the Regional Passport Office (RPO) refusing her a passport should be overturned, Parker contended.
The petition has only now become public.
The RPO had rejected Parker's application on the ground that she might not come back to India because she was Dawood's sister.
When the case came up in the court, government counsel R.P. Dubey said she might have been refused a passport for "obvious reasons".
After preliminary arguments, judge B.D. Ahmed issued notice to the central government and fixed October 23 as the next date of hearing.
Clad in a burqa, Parker had on May 22 appeared before a Mumbai court seeking anticipatory bail as she was wanted in a case of extortion, cheating and forgery.
Parker, who police said had been untraceable ever since her name figured in the case, appeared before sessions judge N.D. Desphande accompanied by four women dressed identically in an apparent bid to avoid identification.
When Public Prosecutor Rohini Salian doubted whether any of the five women was Parker, the judge threatened to arrest all of them. Parker then briefly raised her veil and her lawyer identified her to the court.
The appearance came after the court had May 10 issued non-bailable warrants against Parker and four others on a police case filed against them by a real estate agent.