The Delhi High Court on Monday refused to grant interim stay on the order passed by the Single-Judge, granting permission to Congress leader Bhavya Bishnoi to travel to the United States for Post-Graduation.
The Division Bench, led by Chief Justice D.N. Patel and also comprising Justice Jyoti Singh, issued notice in an appeal filed by the Income Tax Department, challenging the interim order passed by a Single Judge Bench of Justice Rekha Palli on August 4.
Advocate Vibhooti Malhotra, appearing on behalf of the Income Tax Department, alleged that the Single Judge did not give due consideration to the fact that a cognisance of the complaint under the Black Money Act, filed against Bhavya, has been taken by the Special Judge at Tis Hazari Court on August 5.
She contended that only a competent court is empowered to grant a permission to travel abroad, and not the High Court in the exercise of its writ jurisdiction. In addition, she contended that such a permission would cause an irreparable prejudice on the case against Bhavya under the Black Money Act.
Advocate N. P. Sahni, appearing for Bhavya, informed the Court that in pursuance of the order passed by the Single Judge, Bhavya’s father Kuldeep Bishnoi, Congress MLA from Adampur, Haryana, has already filed an undertaking to not leave the country as long as Bhavya is abroad; as also furnished a security to the tune of Rs one crore before the Registrar General of the Delhi High Court.
He undertook to abide by any further condition been imposed by the Bench. In this light of the foregoing, he submitted that Kuldeep Bishnoi and Bhavya will surrender their passports before the Registrar General of the Delhi High Court and before an Office of the Indian Embassy near the Harvard University at the United States, respectively, for as long as Bhavya is abroad.
Considering the conditions imposed by the Single Judge while granting permission to Bhavya to travel abroad along with the submissions made by Mr Sahni, the Bench refused to grant stay on the operation, execution or implementation of the order passed by the Single Judge.
The Bench directed the concerned authorities to preserve the said passports till further orders of a competent court within India and posted the matter for further hearing on September 30.
The Bench further directed that valid and legal e-mail address of Bhavya and his father be provided to the concerned authorities for the purpose of supplying summons in the case.
The Bench, while keeping the matter alive, orally remarked, “So long as you are cooperative, you can go anywhere….. If you are non-cooperative, everything will come to an end.”
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At the outset, an application was filed by Bhavya, seeking suspension of the look-out circular (LOC) issued against him in 2019, so as to enable him to travel to the US for pursuing a two-year Master in Public Administration course at the Harvard Kennedy School, Massachusetts, US.
Bhavya and his father have been accused under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, for non-disclosure of foreign assets held by them.
Justice Rekha Palli, vide an order dated August 4, 2021, granted permission to Bhavya to travel to the US for a period of two years, subject to certain conditions, including, his father filing an undertaking that he will not leave the country as long as Bhavya is abroad.