NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Thursday directed the CBI director to apologise to former Amnesty International India chief and senior columnist Aakar Patel for a lookout circular (LOC) issued against him by the agency, which barred him from boarding a US-bound flight from Bengaluru the previous day.
While ordering the CBI to withdraw the LOC ‘immediately’, the court said a written apology from the CBI director acknowledging the lapse by his subordinate, would go a long way in not only healing his wounds.
Despite the court order, Patel was stopped at the immigration counter at Bengaluru airport late Thursday night as the LOC had not been lifted till then. he tweeted that he would move court again, if needed.
In his plea, Patel said the LOC was invoked despite a Gujarat court’s order granting him permission “specifically for this trip”. The court noted that apart from the monetary loss, the applicant had suffered mental harassment as he was not allowed to fly abroad at the scheduled time.
Patel had in the Delhi High Court challenged the LOC in connection with a case of an alleged violation of the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act during his stint at Amnesty.