The Delhi High Court has granted permission to environmental lawyer Ritwick Dutta, who was booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a case under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), to travel to Switzerland and Germany.
The single-judge Bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad passed the orders on the grounds that the founder of Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE) has roots in the society and has been practising law in Delhi for the past 21 years.
It further took into account the fact that Dutta was a recipient of Right to Life.
Dutta sought permission to visit Geneva in Switzerland from November 23 to 25 and Germany from December 3 to 8.
The environmental lawyer had challenged the Look-Out Circular (LOC issued against him by the CBI. The agency has accused Dutta of receiving foreign contribution from US-based nonprofit public interest organisation Earthjustice to stall coal projects in India.
The petitioner was represented by Senior Advocate Trideep Pais with Advocates Abhishek and A Reyna Shruti
Advocate Anurag Ahluwalia with Abhigyan Siddhan represented the Union of India.
Special Public Prosecutor Ripu Daman Bhardwaj with Advocates Kushagra Kumar and Abhinav Bhardwaj represented the CBI.