Palka Dhingra & Ors. vs Bank Of Baroda & Ors.
2024 Latest Caselaw 6651 Del

Citation : 2024 Latest Caselaw 6651 Del
Judgement Date : 7 October, 2024

Delhi High Court

Palka Dhingra & Ors. vs Bank Of Baroda & Ors. on 7 October, 2024

Author: Dharmesh Sharma

Bench: Dharmesh Sharma

                  $~116
                  *     IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
                  %                                  Date of decision: 7th October, 2024
                  +          W.P.(C) 5616/2023 & CM APPL. 22011/2023, CM APPL.
                             38274/2023, CM APPL. 57232/2023

                             PALKA DHINGRA & ORS.                        .....Petitioners
                                         Through:        Mr. Sanjeev Bhandari, Mr.
                                                         Amit     Dhall,   Mr.       Rajat
                                                         Srivastava, Mr. Arjit Sharma,
                                                         Mr. Vaibhav Vats, Mr. Nikunj
                                                         Bindal and Ms. Chani Sharma,
                                                         Advs.

                                            versus

                             BANK OF BARODA & ORS.                .....Respondents
                                         Through: Ms. Praveena Gautam, Mr.
                                                   Pawan Shukla and Ms. Akansha
                                                   Tyagi, Advs. for R-1/BOB.
                                                   Mr. Anurag Ahluwalia, CGSC
                                                   with Mr. Kaushal Jeet Kait and
                                                   Mr. Abhay Singh, Advs. for R-
                                                   3/UOI.
                                                   Mr. Kunal Tandon and Mr.
                                                   Nitin    Jain,      Advs.   for
                                                   respondent/Indian      Overseas
                                                   Bank.
                                                   Ms. Anubha Bhardwaj, SPP for
                                                   CBI with Mr. Vishal Sharma
                                                   and Mr. Ujjwal Chaudhary,
                                                   Advs.

                             CORAM:
                             HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DHARMESH SHARMA




Signature Not Verified
                        W.P.(C) 5616/2023
Digitally Signed By:PRAMOD                                                      Page 1 of 4
KUMAR VATS
Signing Date:08.10.2024
14:48:55
                                             DHARMESH SHARMA, J. (ORAL)

1. This application is moved on behalf of the applicant/petitioner No.3 Mrs. Seema Dhingra seeking appropriate orders/directions of this Court facilitating off-shore travel for the period of two weeks commencing from 20.09.2024 to attend the birthday of her grandchild and also to see her daughter-in-law in Dubai.

2. During the course of hearing on the present application on 02.09.2024, a statement was given by Ms. Anubha Bhardwaj, learned Special Public Prosecutor for the CBI1 that the CBI has not issued any Look-Out Circular ["LOC"] against the present applicant /petitioner No.3. The said position was reiterated on 25.09.2024.

3. However, on the same day Ms. Praveena Gautam, learned counsel for the respondent No.1/Bank of Baroda submitted that LOC dated 05.03.2020 was actually opened at the behest of the consortium of banks led by the respondent No.1/Bank of Baroda. Further Mr. Kunal Tandon, learned counsel for respondent No.4/Indian Overseas Bank also brought to the fore that their bank had also independently sent a letter to the immigration authorities for issuance of LOC against the present petitioners.

4. On supplying of the relevant details, the writ petition has since been amended by the learned counsel for the petitioners seeking appropriate reliefs.

5. Today, having heard the learned counsels for the parties and on perusal of the record, it is brought out that Division Bench of the

W.P.(C) 5616/2023

KUMAR VATS Signing Date:08.10.2024 14:48:55 Bombay High Court, in a bunch of writ petitions, titled Viraj Chetan Shah v. Union of India, W.P. (C) 719/2020 vide judgment dated 23.04.2024 has quashed the Clause 8(b)(xv) of the Office Memorandum dated 27.10.2010 bearing O.M. 23016/31/2010-Imm. Equivalent to Clause 6(B)(xv) of the O.M. dated 22.02.2021 bearing O.M. 25016/10/2017-Imm.(Pt.) whereby the Chairman/Managing Director/Chief Executives of all Public Sector Banks could request for opening of an LOC.

6. The aforesaid decision has also been referred and relied upon by a learned Single Judge of this Court in the case of Rajesh Kumar Mehta v. UOI2. It is also pointed out that the aforesaid decision by the Division Bench of the Bombay High Court was challenged before the Supreme Court in a Special Leave to Appeal (C) No.(s) 17194- 17230/2024 and the following directions were passed vide order dated 12.08.2024:

"...Pending consideration of these Special Leave Petitions on the interim stay, the private respondents/writ petitioners before the High Court shall seek permission from the High Court in the event they wish to travel abroad.

It is needless to observe that if such an application is filed before the High Court in the disposed of writ petitions, the same shall be considered and disposed of expeditiously.

The pendency of these Special leave Petitions before this Court would not come in the way of the petitioners herein formulating a fresh Office Memorandum (OM), if found necessary."

7. A bare perusal of the aforesaid order dated 12.08.2024 carves out an exception to the cases which already stand disposed of and

1 Central Bureau of Investigation

(2024) SCC OnLine Del 4153

W.P.(C) 5616/2023

KUMAR VATS Signing Date:08.10.2024 14:48:55 thereby giving liberty to the parties to approach the High Court for appropriate relief.

8. In view of the above, the present application is allowed and as requested by the learned counsel for the applicant/petitioner No.3 Mrs. Seema Dhingra, she is permitted to travel abroad i.e. Dubai, UAE 3 for a period w.e.f. 08.10.2024 till 30.11.2024 subject to fulfilling the following conditions:

(i) Before undertaking travel, the applicant/petitioner No.3, on an affidavit shall disclose the travel itinerary, her place of stay and her contact details to the respondent banks;

(ii) The applicant/petitioner No.3 shall furnish a Fixed Deposit Receipt of Rs. 5 lacs with the respondent No. 1/Bank of Baroda, which on her return to India shall be returned to her;