Rajasthan High Court Asks Centre, State To Inform On Formulation Of SOP On Recall Of LOCs After Bail To Accused Who Seeks To Travel Abroad
Rajasthan High Court has sought assistance of the Additional Solicitor General and Advocate General to apprise the Court on steps taken for the formulation Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for timely intimation to authorities about grant of bail to accused persons against whom an LOC was issued, so that it can be recalled.
The bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand has also sought clarity on the mechanism evolved for timely intimation to the Department of Aviation/Airport Authorities about grant of regular bail to any accused person and ensuring that any earlier LOC issued against such person was recalled thereafter.
"an issue has arisen before this Court with regard to ascertain the steps required by the Authorities for withdrawal of the LOC and enquire about the genuineness of the order passed by the Court below with regard to granting permission to the petitioner to travel abroad. Pursuant to the order dated 11.05.2026 passed by this Court, Senior Advocate Mr.Bharat Vyas, ASG has put in appearance and he submits that appropriate letter would be written to the Authorities concerned with regard to the above issue raised in the instant criminal writ petition.
Considering the above peculiar facts and circumstances of the instant case, this Court calls for the assistance of the learned Additional Solicitor General and the learned Advocate General to apprise this Court about Standard of Procedure (for short, “the SOP”), prepared if any, to effectively deal with the situation which has arisen in the instant case"
For context, FIR was registered against the petitioner under section 498-A, IPC, post which a LOC was issued to procure his presence. The petitioner appeared before the trial court and was granted bail. Subsequently, he applied for permission to travel abroad, which was also granted.
However, when the petitioner was leaving the country, he was detained at the Airport based on the LOC that was issued. It was submitted by the petitioner that instead of verifying the genuineness of the LOC, the Immigration Officer detained him and he was not allowed to leave.
Hence, the present petition was filed. In relation to the present matter, it was submitted from the side of the government that appropriate letter shall be written to the concerned authorities.
In relation to the broader issue that this petitioner reflected, the Court directed assistance from the ASG and AG, to provide information on the SOP prepared to effectively deal with this situation.
“…the steps taken by the Authorities concerned for formulation of such SOP to deal with the situations akin to the one arising in the instant case and to evolve a mechanism whereby the Department of Aviation/Airport Authorities are timely intimated regarding the grant of regular bail to any accused person, ensuring that any LOC issued against such accused person may be recalled forthwith.”
The matter is listed on July 13, 2026.
Title: Rishav Khemka v Union of India & Ors.