Pending inquiry no bar to travel abroad, says HC

Pending inquiry no bar to travel abroad, says HC 

Ashish.Mehta@timesofindia.com 26.10.2024 

Jaipur : A 59-year-old electrical engineer posted at Rajasthan Electronics and Instruments Limited was granted permission to travel to Singapore to visit his son by a single bench of the Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday. The petitioner approached the HC early this month when he was denied permission to travel. The court emphasised that the term “personal liberty” under Article 21 of the Constitution encompasses a broader scope, which includes the right to travel abroad. Petitioner, Neeraj Saxena, wrote to higher authorities at REIL on Sept 26 and sought permission to travel to Singapore for a period of six days. However, when he received no response until Oct 16, he approached the HC. “He wrote an application seeking permission to travel to Singapore from Oct 30 to Nov 4 to meet his son.

Until Oct 16, when he did not get a reply and his application was not decided by the authorities, we moved a petition at the high court. The court earlier issued notices to the respondents, including REIL. It was submitted by REIL that a departmental enquiry is pending against the accused, thus he can’t be allowed to travel abroad,” said Akhil Simlote, counsel for the petitioner, on Friday. “It was also submitted that in 2019 the petitioner was part of a recruitment board in which irregularities were alleged in two recruitments. But as soon as we moved an applica tion, REIL in its reply stated that a departmental chargesheet was given to the petitioner,” said Akhil. 

The bench comprising Justice Anoop Dhand, while allowing the petitioner, said the term “personal liberty” under Article 21 of the Constitution encompasses a broader scope, which also includes the right to travel abroad. “He should make his personal appearance before the department on his arrival. He shall not visit other countries except Singapore. And if the petitioner does not return to India within the time period, the department shall be at liberty to proceed against the petitioner in accordance with the law,” said Justice Dhand while allowing the petitioner to travel abroad