Aakar Patel stopped at the airport again, moves Delhi court

In this file photo taken on July 13, 2016, the then Amnesty International India executive director Aakar Patel speaks during a press conference in New Delhi. Pic/ AFP

The Rouse Avenue Court will hear the plea on Friday itself.

As per Patel, he was stopped by immigration at Bengaluru Airport on Thursday night despite the favourable court order.

"have been stopped at immigration again. cbi has not taken me off their look out circular" he said in a tweet.

"Immigration at bangalore airport says nobody at cbi answering their calls," said another tweet.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pawan Kumar of the Rouse Avenue court had on Thursday granted relief to Patel, who approached the court challenging the CBI's Lookout Circular which restrained him from boarding a US-bound flight from Bengaluru airport on Wednesday.

Apart from asking to recall the circular, the court also sought a written apology from the CBI director. "In this case, a written apology from the head of CBI, i.e., Director CBI acknowledging lapse on part of his subordinate, to applicant would go a long way in not only healing wounds of the applicant but also upholding trust and confidence of the public in the premier institution," the court order read.

It had taken note of the submissions of Patel's counsel Tanvir Ahmad Mir, who argued that the circular was issued without any procedure, and highlighted the fundamental rights of the writer.

There was no question of not cooperating with the probe agency by his client, he said.

Journalist and writer Patel was on his way to the US when he was stopped from leaving the country at the Bengaluru airport on Wednesday citing a Lookout Circular issued against him by the CBI in connection with an FCRA (Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 case.

Patel had previously worked on topics related to 2002 Gujarat riots and presented a report "Rights and Wrongs" and has been writing columns for publications in India and Pakistan.

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