When Can A Citizen's Right To Travel Abroad Be Restricted? Explained With Judgments

The Pulitzer-winning photojournalist Sana Irshad Mattoo on Tuesday said she was again stopped from travelling to New York. She was on her way to the US to receive the international award when she was stopped by the immigration authorities at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. In a tweet, she said she was holding a valid US visa and travel ticket.The 28-year-old was also stopped from travelling to the US in July. Since 2019, the right to travel abroad of a number of Kashmiri journalists including Aakash Hassan, Gowhar Geelani has been restricted by the government. In March this year, journalist Rana Ayyub was also stopped by the immigration authorities and prevented from boarding a flight to London. Chair of Board at Amnesty International India, Aakar Patel too was stopped from leaving India at Bangalore airport in April. While Ayyub and Patel's right to travel was restricted purportedly in connection with the pending cases against them and they subsequently got relief from the courts in Delhi, it is not clear whether Mattoo has any pending FIR against her.Live Law explains the guidelines which govern the issuance of Look Out Circulars, that are employed to prevent a person from travelling abroad, and decisions of various courts in this regard.Article 21The right to travel is a part of personal liberty under Article 21 of the constitution. The Supreme Court in April 2019 said, "The right to travel abroad is an important basic human right for it nourishes independent and self-determining creative character of the individual, not only by extending his freedoms of action, but also by extending the scope of his experience." However, as is well settled, even fundamental rights can be restricted "according to the procedure established by law".The Passport Act and Lookout Circulars (LOCs)The 1967 Act provides for issuance of passports and travel documents. Under Section 10A of the Act, the passport or travel documents can be suspended in certain cases by the central government "in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of India, friendly relations of India with any foreign country, or in the interests of the general public". The departure of a person can be prevented by an imigration authority on receiving intimation from the designated authority or central government.The Centre in 1979 issued guidelines for issuance of look out circulars in respect of the arrival and departure of people whose travel the investigating agencies want restricted or banned. The guidelines were amended in 2010 in pursuance of Delhi High Court's judgements in Vikram Sharma vs Union of India and Sumer Singh Salkan versus Asstt. Director & Ors. While there have been many modifications in the guidelines since then, they were reviewed last in February 2021 by the Ministry of Home Affairs. An LOC against a person is opened by the Bureau Of Immigration (BoI) after receiving a request from the competent authority, who are senior officers in the central government or law enforcement agencies. A district magistrate or a superintendent of the police can also get an LOC issued. The criminal courts can also order issuance of LOC. The legal liability of the action taken by immigration authorities in pursuance of the LOC rests with the originating agency, as per the guidelines."Recourse to LOC is to be taken in cognizable offences under IPC or other penal laws. The details … in the enclosed Proforma regarding 'reason for opening LOC' must invariably be provided without which the subject of an LOC will not be arrested/detained".The guidelines make it clear that in cases where there is no cognizable offence under IPC and other penal laws, the LOC subject cannot be detained or arrested or prevented from leaving the country. In such cases, the originating agency can only request that they be informed about the arrival or departure of the subject.However, the guidelines also state that LOCs can be issued and departure can be declined even in such cases which may not be covered under the guidelines, if departure of such person is considered "detrimental to the sovereignty or security or integrity of India or that the same is detrimental to the bilateral relations with any country or to the strategic and/or economic interests of India or if such person is allowed to leave, he may potentially indulge in an act of terrorism, or offences against the State and/or that such departure ought not be permitted in the larger public interest at any given point of time." Till subsistence of the LOC, the immigration authorities are bound to stop the persons against whom it has been issued. "The LOC opened shall remain in force until and unless a deletion request is received by BoI from the Originator Itself," as per the guidelines.The Originator is required keep reviewing the LoCs on quarterly and annual basis and thereafter immediately submit any proposal for deletion to the BoI.Courts on LOCsIn its decision on a petition...

When Can A Citizen's Right To Travel Abroad Be Restricted? Explained With Judgments

Sofi Ahsan

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