2017 (10) TMI 461

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....ed the present petition, inter alia, praying that the Look Out Circular (hereafter 'the LOC') issued against the petitioner be set aside. 4. The present petition was moved on 28.08.2017 and this Court had directed respondent nos. 1 and 2 to produce the relevant file. The concerned file has been produced and perused by this Court. The notings in the file indicate that the concerned officers of the Enforcement Directorate had found that there was a "prima facie" case of violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) against the petitioner and had, therefore, commenced investigations. Certain premises were searched in connection with the alleged offences pertaining to violation of FEMA and certain documents have also been sei....

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....ion of the Money-Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) certain officers of respondent no. 1 have the power to arrest a person; such action can only be taken only if the concerned officer has reasons to believe that the person is guilty of an offence punishable under PMLA. Further such belief would necessarily have to be grounded on material in possession of the concerned officer and such reasons would have to be recorded in writing. It is relevant to mention that in terms of Section 62 of the PMLA, detention or arrest of any person without recording reasons, invites punitive measures. 9. In the present case, the petitioner was detained at the airport at the instance of the Enforcement Directorate and such detention was, plainly, without following ....

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....st invariably be provided without which the subject of an LOC will not be arrested/detained. h) In cases where there is no cognizable offence under IPC or other penal laws, the LOC subject cannot be detained/arrested or prevented from leaving the country. The originating agency can only request that they be informed about the arrival / departure of the subject in such cases. xxxx xxxx xxxx" 12. In the present case, the LOC does not indicate any credible reason for issuing the same. Plainly, recourse to LOC cannot be taken as a matter of course; restricting the right of a citizen to travel is a serious imposition on his/her fundamental rights and even if it is assumed that such action is permissible in law, it can be taken only when....