Look out notice issued against Green peace activist Priya Pillai quashed by Delhi High Court [Read the Judgment]

The lookout notice issued by the Government of India Greenpeace activist Priya Pillai has been quashed by the Delhi High Court.The Court in its judgment observed, "The core aspect of democracy is the freedom of an individual to be able to freely operate, within the framework of the laws enacted by the Parliament. The individual should be able to order his or her life any way he or she pleases, as long as it is not violative of the law or constitutes an infraction of any order or direction of a duly constituted court, tribunal or any statutory authority for that matter. Amongst the varied freedoms conferred on an individual (i.e., the citizen), is the right of free speech and expression, which necessarily includes the right to criticise and dissent. Criticism, by an individual, may not be palatable; even so, it cannot be muzzled. Many civil right activists believe that they have the right, as citizens, to bring to the notice of the State the incongruity in the developmental policies of the State. The State may not accept the views of the civil right activists, but that by itself, cannot be a good enough reason to do away with dissent."Ms. Pialli was detained at the Delhi airport while she was all set to board the flight to UK, where she was to have a talk with the British Parliamentarians. Ms. Pillai was then separated from the group of passengers and was taken into another building, where the authorities told her that she could not travel out of India and her baggage was brought back from the aircraft and "Off loaded" was stamped on her passport.Before the High Court, Ms. Pillai claimed she was told that she was "detained since her name stood included in the "data base" of individuals, who are not allowed to leave the country" and that no other information was given to her.Ms. Pillai then made several communications to the Government but at last had to approach the High Court. Senior Advocate Indira Jai Singh appeared for the activist, she claimed, "The detention of Ms. Pillai, on 11.01.2015, had violated her fundamental right to travel, free speech and expression and to practice her profession and / or occupation. Consequently, the action of the respondents contravened her fundamental rights under Article 21, 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(g)of the Constitution."She also questioned the validity of look our circular and claimed that the same was illegal. She highlighted how the Government had not cared to reply to Ms. Pillai, despite her repeated letters.Appearing for the Government, Additional Solicitor General Mr Sanjay Jain defended Government's actions. He submitted "that the lookout notice was legal and that "In so far as Ms Pillai was concerned, she was already an LOC subject and, accordingly, an LOC dated 10.10.2014 had been issued qua her on an earlier occasion. As regards the recent incident, whereby she was detained at the airport on 11.01.2015, a numbered LOC was opened by the Assistant Director of I.B., on 10.01.2015. The purpose with which the said LOC was issued, was to prevent Ms Pillai from leaving India since, she proposed to testify before the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Tribal People,comprising of British Parliamentarians, which without doubt, would have"negatively" projected the image of the Government of India."He also claimed, "The main objective of the foreign and Indian activists associated with Greenpeace International and Greenpeace India, is to step up agitations in coal producing regions, such as Mahan, in Singrauli district, in the State of Madhya Pradesh. For this purpose, a front, in the form of an entity by the name of, Mahan Sangharsh Samiti (MSS) was created, which is funded by Greenpeace India and that Ms Pillai has been posted there to organize the villagers."He highlighted how the funding of Greenpeace was curtailed by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2014. He also submitted that the talk which Ms. Pillai could have had with the British MPs would have had an impact on India's interests and affect its reputation internationally.Justice Shakdher while deciding the first issue before the Court, opined, "It is quite clear, that it can no longer be argued that the right to travel abroad is not a fundamental right. It is, as a matter of fact, a second generation right which flows from the right to life and personal liberty conferred on the citizens, under Article 21, which can be taken away only by procedure, as established in law. While, it may be true that the right to go abroad is not included the right to freedom of speech and expression – in some cases, the curtailment of right to travel abroad could impact, a citizen's right of free speech and expression."Regarding the issue of validity of lookout notice in general was left open by the Court, as the validity of lookout notice was not challenged in general. The High Court in relation to her possible talks with British MPs observed, "The argument of the respondents that Greenpeace U.K. and Greenpeace...

Look out notice issued against Green peace activist Priya Pillai quashed by Delhi High Court [Read the Judgment]

Gaurav Pathak

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