The former head of Amnesty International India, Aakar Patel, had alleged that he was stopped from travelling abroad likely because of a book he had written against PM Modi. The conjecture was made by Patel during his interview with Karan Thapar for The Wire, a left-leaning portal that has earned the dubious distinction of peddling fake news and leveraging its platform to whitewash serious offences.
Patel was stopped from boarding a flight at the Bengaluru airport on April 6, following which he took to Twitter to state that he was put on an exit control list by the CBI. The central agency had issued a Look Out Circular against him in connection with a case registered against Amnesty International India for committing alleged FCRA violations.
But, during his interview with Thapar, Patel surmised that he was stopped from travelling abroad not because of the serious allegations of money laundering and FCRA violations levelled against him but because of a critical book he had written against the Modi government.
“I believe I was stopped likely because my book criticises Modi,” Patel tells Thapar when the latter asks him what could have been the probable reason for the issuance of the LOC to the embattled former Amnesty International India head.
Patel challenges CBI’s Look Out Circular issued against him in connection with alleged FCRA violations by Amnesty International India
It is noteworthy to mention that the CBI in the Delhi Court had highlighted that Patel was issued the LOC in connection with a case registered against Amnesty International India for alleged FCRA violations.
Patel had approached a Delhi court against the Look Out Circular issued against him. The court had then instructed the central probe agency to withdraw the circular forthwith and had also asked the CBI to issue an apology to Aakar Patel for restricting him to travel abroad.
Hours later, Patel tweeted that he was stopped at the immigration yet again as the CBI had not taken him off their Look Out Circular yet. In a subsequent tweet, Patel had vowed to move court again if needed.
Special CBI court overturns Delhi court’s order, asks Aakar Patel to not leave the country without its permission
However, on Friday, a special CBI court in Delhi stayed the court order that allowed former Amnesty India head Aakar Patel to travel abroad and said that he can’t leave the country without the permission of the court. The Special CBI court in Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court stayed the order issued by the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of the same court yesterday, where CBI was instructed to withdraw the Look Out Circular against Patel immediately.
Special CBI Judge Santosh Snehi Mann stayed the order by the ACMM Pawan Kumar and directed Patel not to leave the country without the permission of the Court. The CBI had argued against the court order saying that no time was given to them to challenge the order, as they were asked to withdraw the circular immediately.
The judge agreed with this argument, saying, “there has to be a reasonable time to a party, who feels that the order isn’t favourable to approach the authority. The remedy is there.”
