Know About Lookout Circular

The Supreme Court on April 21 called on the Central Bureau of Investigation to come up with a Standard Operating Procedure regarding issuance of Look-Out Circulars against accused persons. A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta questioned the CBI over the stopping of an accused - the petitioner - at the airport, due to a Look- Out Circular opened against him, despite the jurisdictional Court having granted permission to travel abroad.[1]What is a Look Out Circular? Which agencies can issue it and against whom? Do Courts and Statutes provide any remedy against them and what are the relevant observations made by the Supreme Court recently? Read the article for a comprehensive breakdown of the same. 1. Look Out CircularA Look-Out Circular is essentially an administrative mechanism whereby certain designated authorities are permitted to issue requests to the immigration/emigration authorities to monitor and control the movement of individuals. An LOC can be said to be a coercive measure adopted by the State to restrict and regulate the physical movement of an individual. Who are they issued against? They are issued against citizens, freeing nationals, or foreign nationals who have pending cases filed against them in relation to serious, cognizable offences or an investigation that requires their presence. It works against relevant individuals arriving or departing India at various points such as airports, seaports, and land borders. The issuance of an LOC can have significant implications for the individual named, including restrictions on travel, potential detention, and legal proceedings. Who issues LOC? LOC's can be issued by coordination between multiple government agencies, including the police, intelligence agencies such as the CBI as well as the Ministry of Home Affairs and Bureau of Immigration (“BOI”). The process is initiated based on a request from an 'originating/requesting' agency such as the Superintendent of Police to the BOI to issue an LOC against an individual in case certain specific criteria or why such a notice is being issued against the respective individual. Some of the agencies who can issue LOC's are - Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)District MagistrateSuperintendent of PoliceCentral Bureau of InvestigationNarcotics Control BureauDirectorate of Revenue IntelligenceCentral Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)Intelligence BureauNational Investigation Agency (NIA)Customs and Income Tax Departments, etc.2. Framework and Statutory AuthoritiesGuidelines for the issuance of LOCs have been prescribed through Office Memorandums (“OM(s)”) issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (“MoHA”), from time to time. These OMs invariably set-out the circumstances in which an LOC may be issued, designate certain authorities as being permitted to request for the issuance of an LOC and provide the procedure by way of which an LOC may be issued by the immigration/emigration authorities.The Ministry of Home Affairs first set out the guidelines for issuing LOCs via its Letter dated September 5, 1979 (25022/13/78-F.I). After that, the guidelines were further refined and superseded by another office memorandum issued by the MHA dated December 27, 2000 (25022/20/98/F.IV). As per the 2000 OM, the request must be “with the approval of an officer not below the rank of Deputy Secretary Government of India/Joint Secretary in State Government/Concerned Superintendent of Police at district level.” [2]Subsequently, in 2010, pursuant to the decision of Vikram Sharma & Ors. vs Union of India & Ors,[3] the MoHA issued the OM of 27 October 2010 (“2010 OM”) which provided a comprehensive framework for the issuance, enforcement, and cancellation of LOCs. Some of the important guidelines under this OM are summarized below:Issuance Criteria: LOCs can be issued for individuals involved in cognizable offenses under the IPC or other penal laws. The guidelines specify the conditions under which an LOC can be initiated, ensuring that it is based on substantial evidence and justified reasons.Exceptional Circumstances for Issuance: The LOCs may also be issued in exceptional cases without complete parameters/case details against CI suspects, terrorists, anti-national elements etc. in the larger national interest.Authorized Originating Agencies: The guidelines stipulate thirteen officers from various originating agencies who are authorized to request for issuance of an LOC. Furthermore, LOCs may also be issued as per the directions of any Criminal Court of India. It is stated that other statutory bodies such as National Commission for Women, National Human Rights Commission may place a request before the relevant law enforcement agencies, who will assess the request and then issue a request for opening an LOC, in terms of the OM.Legal Liability: Legal liability of action taken by the immigration authorities in pursuance of the LOC rests with the originating agency.Cancellation and Review: The LOC...

Know About Lookout Circular

Dhruv Pandey

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