new Delhi:
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will challenge a Delhi court’s order quashing the lookout circular against former Amnesty India chief Aakar Patel.
The source said the central probe agency will file an appeal against the order of the CBI court this morning.
Lookout circular is an alert issued by law enforcement agencies to authorities in airports and seaports to prevent any wanted person from leaving the country.
Mr Patel tweeted last evening that despite a court order granting him relief, he was barred from flying at the Bengaluru airport. His post, which came shortly after a special court ordered the CBI to “immediately” remove the airport alert against him, read, “Re-immigration has been put on hold. CBI has not removed me from their look out circular.” “
A second tweet read, “Immigration at Bangalore airport says no one in CBI is answering their calls”.
Responding to this, the source said the special court order came around 4.30 pm yesterday and the agency has been given 24 hours to comply.
Mr Patel had approached the court after being stopped from flying to the US from Bengaluru airport. The court ordered that the investigating agency tender a written apology to him in view of the “mental torture”.
Mr Patel had told the court that he was apparently on the “exit control list” because of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) case against Amnesty International. This happened even after he got his passport back and went ahead with a court specifically to travel to the US between March 1 and May 30.
The agency, however, said that in a case registered by the Gujarat Police, permission has been received from a Gujarat court for travel. The agency said the airport alert was in connection with a CBI case against Amnesty International India and others for alleged violations involving foreign funding.
Coming down heavily on the agency, the special court in Delhi said the lookout circular should not have been issued “only on the basis of apprehensions arising out of the whims and fancies of the investigating agency”.
“This act of the investigating agency has caused pecuniary loss of about Rs 3.8 lakh to the applicant/accused as he has missed his flight,” the court said.