Bombay High Court
Anil Mittal vs Union Of India And Ors on 15 September, 2023
Bench: A.S. Gadkari, Sharmila U. Deshmukh
2023:BHC-AS:27502-DB
Harish
WP2972-2023.doc
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
WRIT PETITION NO. 2972 OF 2023
Anil Mittal ]
s/o Sh. Ved Prakash ]
Residing At: R/o B1001, ]
Ravechi Heights, Plot No. 25, ]
Sector 7, Kharghar, ]
Navi Mumbai -410210 ]...Petitioner
V/s.
1. The Union of India ]
Through the Ministry of External Affairs ]
Sought Block, E Block, Central Secretariat, ]
New Delhi- 110001. ]
Having its Mumbai address at: ]
C-45 Bandra Kurla Complex Road, G Block, ]
Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai -400098 ]
2. Bureau of Immigration ]
Ministry of Home Affairs, ]
Through the Immigration Officer, ]
Government of India, East Block-VIII, ]
Level-V, Sector-1, R. K. Puram, ]
New Delhi-110066, ]
having its Mumbai address at: ]
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International ]
Airport, Navpada, Vile Parle- East, ]
Mumbai-400099
3. Serious Fraud Investigation Officer No-1, ]
6th Floor, Building 1, Mahatma Gandhi Road, ]
Azad maidan, Fort, Mumbai, Maharashtra-400001 ]
4. State of Maharashtra ]
Through the Officer of the Public Prosecutor ]...Respondents
1/ 5
Harish
WP2972-2023.doc
Mr. Rahul Agarwala, Mr. Tushar Agarwal, Ms. Jasmin Purani & Mr. Sajid
Sayed for the Petitioner.
Mr. Akhileshwar Sharma i/b Mr. Pradeep Yadav & Ms. Divya Gontia for
Respondent No. 3.
Ms. A. S. Pai, PP a/w Ms. M. H. Mhatre, APP for Respondent State.
CORAM : A.S. GADKARI &
SHARMILA U. DESHMUKH, JJ.
DATE : 15th September, 2023.
JUDGMENT : (PER SHARMILA U. DESHMUKH J.) :
1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith and with the consent of
the learned counsel for the respective parties taken up for hearing.
2. By this petition filed under Article 226 of Constitution of
India, the Petitioner seeks permission to travel overseas to Dubai (United
Arab Emirates) for business purpose for the period from 20 th September,
2023 to 10th October, 2023 and for the said purpose seeks temporary
suspension of the lookout circular issued against the Petitioner.
3. Mr. Rahul Agarwal, Learned counsel for the Petitioner
submits that, vide Order No. F. No. 3/354/2019-CL-II (NR) dated
04.10.2019 the Respondent No. 3 SFIO was directed to investigate into
the affairs of "Asian Colour Coated Ispat Ltd." of which the Petitioner
was erstwhile Chief Operating Officer. He would submit that the lookout
circular has been issued by SFIO and that he had co-operated with the
SFIO and attended their office on four occasions during the
2/ 5
Harish
WP2972-2023.doc
investigation.
4. Mr. Akhileshwar Sharma, learned counsel appearing for the
Respondent No.3 raised an issue of maintainability that, the registered
office of the company is situated at Haryana and the application ought
to be filed before the High Court of Chandigarh. He would further
submit that the investigation by SFIO is ongoing and the presence of
Petitioner is required for investigation.
5. In response to the issue of maintainability, learned counsel
for the Petitioner has pointed out the reply of the Respondent No. 3
filed before the Special Judge at Gurugram (page No.63 of the petition)
in which Respondent No.3 has stated that the registered office of the
company is not within the jurisdiction of the Court at Gurugram.
6. Considered the submissions and perused the papers.
7. The investigation by SFIO commenced in the year 2019 and
has not concluded as yet. It is not disputed that on four occasions, the
Petitioner had attended the office of SFIO and co-operated with the
investigation.
8. As regards the issue of maintainability, it is the Respondent
No.3 own case that, the registered office of the company is situated in
Mumbai. The pleadings indicate that, the Petitioner had traveled
overseas on number of occasions and returned to India. A detailed
3/ 5
Harish
WP2972-2023.doc
itinerary has been given in paragraph No.5B (page No.17) of the
petition.
9. Considering the above, we are inclined to temporarily
suspend the lookout circular to enable the Petitioner to travel to Dubai
from 20th September, 2023 to 11th October, 2023 on the following terms
and conditions:
(i) Petitioner- Anil Mittal is permitted to travel to Dubai (United
Arab Emirates) during the period from 20 th September, 2023
to 10th October, 2023;
(ii) Petitioner, before his departure, to furnish the full itinerary
of his overseas travel with all details, including the
addresses where he would stay, telephone/mobile/contact
numbers, on which he can be contacted during the said
period, to Respondent No.3-SFIO;
(iii) Petitioner shall not apply for renewal or extension of this
Order until he returns to this country;
(iv) The Immigration Authorities on all points of departure, will
permit the Petitioner to pass through immigration and to
board his flight or flights, irrespective of whether the
immigration system has been updated and whether
Respondent No.3 has informed the Immigration Authorities
or not;
(v) To enable the Petitioner to travel, the operation of LOC
4/ 5
Harish
WP2972-2023.doc
placing travel restrictions on the Petitioner, is stayed from
20th September, 2023 to 11th October, 2023.
(vi) Upon his return to India on 11 th October, 2023 the Petitioner
to report to SFIO on or before 13th October, 2023.
10. Learned counsel for Respondent No.3 to communicate this
Order to the Immigration Authorities forthwith upon the Order being
uploaded.
11. Rule is made absolute in the above terms.
12. Stand over to 12th October, 2023 for recording compliance of
the aforesaid Order.
13. All concerned to act on the authenticated copy of this Order.
(SHARMILA U. DESHMUKH, J.) (A.S. GADKARI, J.)
5/ 5
Signed by: Harish V. Chaudhari
Designation: PA To Honourable Judge
Date: 16/09/2023 15:39:48
