Look out circulars:India
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High Court guidelines:2010
Jan 14 2015
Abhinav Garg
Five years ago, the Delhi high court laid down clear guidelines under which a look-out circular (LOC) could be issued and a person “offloaded“ by authorized government agencies. The move to stop Greenpeace activist Priya Pillai at Delhi airport has brought into focus an HC order of 2010, where incidentally , the court awarded Rs 40,000 as compensation to a passenger who was offloaded on the basis of a complaint by the National Commission for Women over a matrimonial dispute. It had also asked the home ministry to revise norms on issuing LOC.
The government cited this order by Justice S Muralidhar to point out that as per new circular issued by MHA in 2010, an officer in the rank of assistant director in the IB is authorized to issue a look out circular for any individual on the basis of inputs received against the person.
However, the authorities seem unaware of another verdict by Justice S N Dhingra delivered barely a month later in August 2010, where he specified circumstances under which an LOC can be issued.
“Recourse to LOC can be taken by investigating agency in cognizable offences under IPC or other penal laws, where the accused was deliberately evading arrest or not appearing in the trial court despite non-bailable warrants and other coercive measures and there was likelihood of the accused leaving the country to evade trialarrest,“ Justice Dhingra held.He further made it clear the “IO shall make a written request for LOC to the officer as notified by the circular of MHA, giving details & reasons for seeking LOC.“
While Justice Muralidhar said quasi judicial bodies such as NCW did not have the jurisdiction to issue LOC, the later verdict by Justice Dhingra came in answer to a reference sent by trial court seeking comprehensive guidelines on issuing of LOC.
