Overview
- The bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, which heard the case on Tuesday, directed the CBI to file a formal SOP on Look-Out Circulars and warned it would frame guidelines if the agency does not.
- The court said Look-Out Circulars—alerts used to stop people at airports—are not confidential and must be backed by recorded reasons under the CBI’s own memo.
- The case arose after Nimesh Navinchandra Shah, cleared by a trial court to travel, was stopped at the airport because of a CBI Look-Out Circular.
- Questioned on safeguards, the CBI’s counsel said LOCs are issued under an office memorandum and indicated that surrendering a passport could manage travel as a bail condition.
- The court adjourned the matter for the CBI to place the LOC and its procedure on record, noting that a separate LOC against Shah’s wife was quashed and a bank-issued LOC against him remains before the High Court.