New Delhi: As the results of the 2019 general elections started pouring in on the morning of 23 May, Naresh Goyal, the former chairman of Jet Airways, began preparations to leave India. Sources said that the air tickets for Goyal and his wife in the Dubai-bound Emirates flight EK-507, for 25 May, were booked in advance. The 3-hour 15-minute long flight would have taken the couple to Dubai from where their plan was to fly to London.
After checking into Mumbai airport, which boasts of a state of the art system that allows officials to track the entry and exit of passengers, Goyal and his wife were able to complete the immigration formalities, spend time at the airport lounge, interact with those who recognised them, and then calmly board the flight.
Thus, despite a Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against him and the SFIO (Serious Fraud Investigation Office) and ED (Enforcement Directorate) probing him, Goyal was able to enter the aircraft, get into his seat, and bear witness to the aircraft being taken to the runway before it was called back just a couple of minutes before take-off.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) still does not have any official explanation on how Goyal managed to dodge the LOC and more importantly how, all of a sudden, the Bureau of Immigration realised that there was an LOC against him, which prompted it to call back the aircraft and de-board Goyal.
In fact official sources believe that a well thought out plan had been hatched to help Goyal flee India, the way Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi did. A plan that could not have been possible without the involvement of top officials of the Bureau of Immigration, who would have given instructions to the ground staff in Mumbai to let Goyal complete all formalities and board the aircraft despite an LOC issued against him.
“It is not easy to dodge an LOC, nowadays with real time information and notices being accessible to the airport ground staff every minute. The very fact that Goyal was able to complete all the formalities—both security check and immigration process—and spend a considerable time in the airport without being stopped, shows that he was being helped by top officials of Bureau of Immigration on 25 May”, a senior MHA source said.
It was not until 30 May that the Modi 2.0 Cabinet was formed and the MHA was allotted to Amit Shah. So until that time the MHA was being run by the top bureaucrats there.
The Sunday Guardian had filed an RTI query with the MHA, seeking to know the action taken by the Ministry, if any, against the Bureau of Immigration officials who were responsible for ensuring that Naresh Goyal, against whom there was an LOC, did not pass the immigration counter and whether the Ministry has identified the reasons because of which Goyal was able to pass immigration and enter the aircraft check despite an LOC issued in his name.
The MHA, in its reply declined to share any information by invoking “Chapter VI, section 24 (1) and second schedule of the RTI Act, 2005”.
This section states that the provisions of RTI did not apply to the intelligence and security organisations specified in the Second Schedule.
“If Goyal had flown on that flight, it would have severely diminished India’s reputation and put a question mark on the security apparatus that we have at our airports. It is unfortunate that the Bureau of Immigration has until now failed to identify the officers who helped Goyal in almost fleeing India. The larger concern is that the Central government is still struggling to identify and take action against the corrupt and ‘flexible’ officers who are sitting in crucial positions and damaging the country’s interests”, the MHA official said.
As per rules, the LOC, once issued, is shared with every Immigration Check Post (ICP) in the country in a prescribed pro forma. Such order can be issued to the Bureau of Immigration by an officer of rank not less than Deputy Secretary to the Government of India or a Joint Secretary in a state government or a superintendent level police officer. The originating agency, which seeks the LOC, is required to make sure that the complete identifying particulars of the person are mentioned in the pro forma. The request for LOC is made to Deputy Director, Bureau of Immigration.
More importantly, at least three identifying features, apart from the sex and nationality of the individual, are required to be mentioned in the pro forma along-with passport details, if available. Unless the pro-forma provides for the cognizable offence under which the particular person is facing the LOC, he or she cannot be stopped, arrested or detained from leaving the country. In case the individual is not facing any cognizable charges, the originating agency can only request the Bureau of Immigration to provide them with information of arrival and departure of the individual and cannot force the agency to detain him.