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TMI Blog2020 (2) TMI 1578X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... an amendment to Clause- (j) of the original office memorandum pertaining to Look Out Circulars (LOCs) was in place. By relying on such amendment, it is argued that, for the economic interests of India, among other grounds, LOCs can be issued even in such cases as would not be covered by the guidelines thereinabove, that is, including Clauses- (g) and (h), which, according to learned counsel for the review petitioner, were the basis of passing of the order under review. Since, the bank was not in the know of the said office memorandum dated December 5, 2017, placement of the same now before this Court tantamounts to discovery of new matter, entitling the review petitioner-bank to a review. It is further submitted that, in view of the said office memorandum having the force of law, there is also an error on the face of the record in the sense that the amendment in the relevant guidelines was not taken into account while passing the order under review. Learned counsel for the review petitioner- bank cites a judgment reported at 2014 SCC Online Del 6844 (Gautam Khaitan Vs. Enforcement Directorate), wherein the learned Single Judge of Delhi High Court had held, inter alia, that econ ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aribam Tuleshwar Sharma Vs. Aribam Pishak Sharma and others) to impress upon this Court that the scope of review was limited. Learned counsel appearing for the Immigration authorities submits that on the very next date after the order under review was passed, the writ petitioner sought to leave the country at 8.00 a.m. and, as such, there were gaps in the communication channel between learned counsel for the immigration authorities and the officers on the field, who were to implement such order. As such, there was no willful or deliberate default in complying with the order of this Court in such officers preventing the writ petitioner again from boarding a flight. Learned counsel for the immigration authorities, at this juncture, also places reliance on an office memorandum dated May 10, 2019, which indicates, in Clause- 4 thereof, that the officers not below the rank of Chairman/Managing Director/Chief Executive of all Public Sector Banks are competent to request for opening LOCs at any point of time if departure of a particular person from India is perceived to be detrimental to the 'economic interests of India' or if the departure of such person from India 'ought n ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he said expression from the neighbouring expressions, it has to be construed to be on a much higher footing than violation of a mere commercial contract, whatsoever may be the quantum of the defaulted sum. An offence, to put a dent on the economic interests of India as a country, has to be such that either the economy of the country would be jeopardized by such person leaving the country and/or the offence would hit at the root of the economic system and/or the market itself, including the share market. In the present case, although the quantum of default was quite high, being around Rs. 20 crores, the magnitude of the quantum is merely a relative expression and cannot be assessed as being "high" for all economic strata of society. For an offence to be detrimental to the economic interests of India, there cannot be any cut-off line or amount which demarcates some commercial defaults from others in labelling those as being against the economic interests of the country as a whole. Even if a loan of Rs. 1/- is not repaid to a bank in the public sector, we cannot draw a distinction between that and a sum of Rs. 20 crores being defaulted. Moreover, there is a specific procedure unde ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... bank- in-question is a public sector bank and the interest of the public is involved, that, ipso facto, does not give a handle to the immigration authorities or the Government to implement or issue an LOC at the drop of a hat. The amendment cited in the review application is preceded by the expression "in exceptional cases", which could not be merely determined by the quantum of money involved, since the cut-off amount for putting a default under the category of an offence against the 'economic interests of India' would beg the question. The quantum of default is a matter of perception depending on the economic condition of a person or an institution. Even if the amount defaulted herein was around Rs. 20 crores, the said amount might not be much to a section, albeit small, belonging to the upper economic crust of the society. As such, no line can be drawn in that regard. The economic interests of India, if considered in proper perspective, has to be on a much higher footing, directly and adversely impacting the share market or the economy of the country as a whole, which destabilizes the entire economy of the country and cannot be confined to individual loans on the basis ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e writ petition, that although the relevant column, that is Column- IV, was filled up, the respective entries under the subjects "F.I.R. No." and "Section of Law (where applicable)" were both "NOT AVAILABLE ON RECORD". On such premise, the action of the immigration authorities in preventing the writ petitioner from leaving the country was deprecated and set aside. Even if the amendment annexed to the review petition is taken into consideration or was taken into consideration while passing the order under review, the same would not make a difference in the ratio of the order under review inasmuch as no exceptional case or any adverse effect on the economic interests of India as a whole have been made out either in the review petition or in the original request for issuance of LOC issued by the bank. In such view of the matter, even if the present amendment was placed before the court while passing the order under review, it would not have any special relevance to the conclusion reached in such order and would not be a relevant factor in passing such order. Since the scope of review is limited, there cannot be any reason why the said limited scope should be exercised in the presen ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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