[BREAKING] Delhi court order at 4 pm today on Aakar Patel plea for permission to travel to US, quashing LOC

A Delhi court will pronounce its order at 4 pm today on a plea filed by former Amnesty International India chair Aakar Patel seeking permission to travel to the United States and praying for quashing of the look out circular (LOC) issued against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) [Aakar Patel v. CBI]..The matter was listed before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pawan Kumar who after hearing both parties said that the order will be delivered at 4 pm.During the hearing, the CBI told the Court that the LOC was issued against the petitioner since he was an influential person and there was a chance of him fleeing from justice.The court was also informed by the CBI that the request for opening of the LOC was sent the Ministry of Home Affairs on 31 December. .The Court, however, pondered that had the petitioner been a flight risk, he could have been arrested, or the CBI could have taken surety during the investigation. "I want to know the detailed reasons (for the LOC)," said the Magistrate. The CBI however remarked in response, "We don't have to give detailed reasons. There is a performa we give.".Advocate Tanveer Ahmed Mir for Patel strongly countered this argument. "Pre-formatted performa basis doesn't work. The pre formatted passport no, photo, etc, what is the worthy material with investigating officer (IO) that Aakar Patel falls in an exceptional case?".The CBI nformed the Court that there was no provision to tell an accused that an LOC was issued. "₹26 crore is involved and the person is highly influential," the CBI maintained. .The petitioner took the Court through the reply filed by the CBI and submitted that opening the LOC was in blatant violation of the Sumer Singh Salkan v Asst. Director case."Citizens rights can't be railroaded like this. It is time that we send a suitable reply to the law enforcement agencies and society," Mir submitted. Further, he argued that the IO committed a blatant violation of court, procedure, ethics, morality and legal obligation as a public officer and a police officer when he opened the LOC. He stated that the IO committed two egregious errors, he filed chargesheet without seeking sanction and also violated his own CBI manual.The counsel prompted the Court to ask Bahuguna if there was any substantial evidence in his case diary, from the time of filing the FIR till date, that necessitated him to open the LOC.It was the petitioner's stand that this was an appropriate case to send a suitable reply to not just the IO, but society at large."Your honor the fundamental rights which are guaranteed under Article 19 and 21 are not to be trampled down, railroaded with a sense of impunity," he stressed. Therefore, it was his suggestion that the best mechanism to adopt would be that the IO who promulgated the LOC were to pay the money prejudiced from his pocket..On Wednesday, the Court had briefly heard the petitioner's counsel.Patel, in his plea, has stated that he was invited by a number of institutions in the US to deliver lectures. He also claimed that his passport had been released to him in another case in Gujarat.The plea stated that he was named in the FIR in a Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) case by the CBI and he was summoned and joined investigation in December, 2020.Patel, according to his plea, was stopped from boarding a British Airways flight, scheduled to depart at around 6.50 am on Wednesday. He was told about a LOC being issued against him by the CBI, specifically the investigating officer.“The applicant suffered the value of his tickets and his immediate program as well on account of the arbitrary and absolute illegal actions on part of the investigating authorities,” added Patel’s plea.Mir argued that there were precedents of the higher courts dealing with people’s right to travel abroad and the action of the CBI was in violation of those. He also informed the Court that a chargesheet had been filed in the case and Patel was no longer required for the investigation..Advocates Tanveer Ahmed Mir, Vaibhav Suri, Saud Khan represented Aakar Patel..[Read a live account of the hearing]