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Parvez Noordin Lokhandwalla v. State of Maharashtra & Anr.

Criminal Appeal · 2020 INSC 573Decided 1 Oct 2020
Criminal Appeal No. 648 of 2020
Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud · Justice Indira Banerjee

Background

The appellant, a US Green Card holder facing a 2014 FIR alleging forgery of a power of attorney, was arrested in 2020 and later granted temporary bail by the Bombay High Court on condition he surrender his passport/Green Card and not leave Thane's jurisdiction. He sought the High Court's permission to travel to the US for eight weeks to fulfil US immigration requirements for keeping his Green Card valid, but the High Court refused, reasoning he had no real connection to India. He appealed to the Supreme Court, which had already nudged the High Court to decide the matter promptly.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the High Court's finding, that the appellant had no contact with India, was factually wrong, since he had travelled between India and the US sixteen times in five years and had extensive ongoing litigation and property interests in India. It reiterated that bail conditions must be proportionate to securing the accused's presence and a fair trial, not punitive or arbitrary, citing its own precedents on the limits of conditions imposed under Sections 437/438 CrPC. Since merely facing an FIR should not automatically block international travel, especially where serious consequences (losing permanent US residency) would follow, the Court set aside the High Court's refusal. It permitted the eight-week US trip subject to an undertaking to return, attend all hearings, and reapply for permission for any future travel.

Lesson Learnt

Bail conditions restricting an accused's fundamental right to travel must be reasonable and proportionate to the actual risk of flight: they cannot be used as an automatic or disproportionate curb on personal liberty just because a criminal case is pending.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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