UAPA no blanket bar on foreign travel: Delhi High Court allows riots accused Natasha Narwal to go to UK for PhD

The Delhi High Court has allowed Delhi riots accused Natasha Narwal to travel to the United Kingdom for academic purposes and to meet her PhD supervisors. 

Justice Amit Bansal passed the order on October 16 and set aside the trial court order of October 6, which had denied her permission. 

While passing the order, the Court said that a case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) will not act as a blanket bar on a person's right to travel abroad.

“The fact that the petitioner has been charged of serious offences under the UAPA does not curtail her right to travel abroad in a blanket manner,” the High Court observed in its order. 

Therefore, the Court allowed her to travel on a personal bond of ₹1 lakh with her brother as surety. Justice Bansal further said she will not seek asylum in the UK or comment on the cases against her. 

Narwal is pursuing PhD from University of Warwick and sought permission to attend an international academic conference in London, where her research paper, Gendered Carceral Labour as Social Reproduction, has been accepted for presentation.

She also sought permission to meet her PhD supervisors and participate in academic activities at the university.

The State opposed her request, arguing that she could pursue her academic engagements via video conference and that travelling to UK could pose difficulties if she seeks asylum there.

After considering the case, the High Court noted that Narwal had been pursuing her doctorate remotely since her admission in October 2023 and that her supervisors had specifically invited her for in-person meetings, doctoral training and research activities.

The Court observed that the trials were likely to take considerable time to conclude and that there was no allegation that she had violated any bail conditions since being granted bail. 

Therefore, it allowed her request to travel. 

Advocates Adit S Pujari, Chaitanya Sundriyal, Manvender Singh Shekhawat and Harshvardhan Pushkin Sharma appeared for Natasha Narwal.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, Special Public Prosecutors (SPP) Madhukar Pandey and Ayodhya Prasad with advocates Dhruv Pande, Aarush Bhatia, Saravjeet Singh and Ishika Singla represented the Delhi Police.

[Read Order]