Bombay HC pulls up Central agencies for issuing LOCs even after person arrested

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday rapped Central agencies for issuing Look Out Circulars LOCs even after a person was arrested and granted bail and asked whether they are above ParliamentA division bench of Justices A S Gadkari and M N Jadhav questioned both the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI and the Enforcement Directorate ED about the law under which LOC was issued once the accused was granted bail by the Supreme CourtOnce bail is granted then an accused is under the custody of the court which granted bail How can you the agency supersede judicial orders like that Are you Central agency above Parliament You are overreaching Parliament nowiquest the court saidThe bench was hearing a petition filed by Roshini Kapoor daughter of Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor challenging the LOC issued against her by the CBIRoshini Kapoor is an accused in two separate cases one for alleged corruption which is probed by CBI and the other by the ED for money laundering in connection with the DHFL caseShe was arrested and subsequently granted bail by the apex court in October 2021In her petition Roshini Kapoor said that continuing the LOC against a person who has already been arrested and granted bail supersedes the lawAlso Read Nawab Malik not innocent he was dealing with Dawoods sister ED tells courtAdvocate Hiten Venegaonkar appearing for the CBI told the high court that LOCs are kept pending even after the accused is granted bail to ensure that he or she doesnt abscondThe bench sought to know how a LOC could be issued against a person who has been arrestedLookout notices are only for the absconding accused Once the accused is arrested then lookout notice must end the bench saidAs per the plea Roshini Kapoor could not travel to London this year despite securing permission from the special court due to the pending LOCThe HC noted that the purpose behind issuing LOC is to stop an accused from fleeing the country without due process of lawBut here there are bail conditions They agencies cannot be a superpower and go above the law the bench saidIt further said that one of the conditions imposed by the court while granting bail was that the accused shall not leave the countryThe condition throughout is that the accused shall not leave the country without the permission of the court Let them accused file before the Special Court You CBI oppose that application seeking permission why are you troubling us and wasting judicial time Justice Gadkari askedThe bench posted the matter for further hearing on September 20 and asked both the ED and CBI to submit their relevant manuals on the provisions while issuing LOCsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever