Gujarat High Court: In a civil application filed by Sunil Surendrakumar Kakkad, Director and Promoter of Sai Infosystem (India) Ltd. (‘Sai Infosystem’), seeking suspension of the lookout circular issued against him by the respondent Bank and permit him to travel to UAE for exploring business opportunities., the Single Judge Bench of Devan M. Desai, J., allowed the petition, holding that due to the lack of any serious contentions raised by the respondents, the application ought to be considered. Thus, the Court allowed Sunil to travel subject to certain conditions.
Background
Sunil Kakkad contended that he wished to travel to the UAE to explore business opportunities for outsourcing back-end IT Support and enterprise resource planning software requirements to India. Purchase orders had been secured by the applicant for this purpose. He also contended that he had previously been allowed to travel outside India on various dates by the Co-ordinate Bench of the Court. Hence, he filed this application.
The Union contended that Sunil Kakkad had not paid anything to the various banks that had given credit facilities amounting to approximately Rs. 2947 Crores to Sai Infosystem. They contended that Sunil Kakkad had submitted a repayment plan for Rs. 50 Lakhs despite his gross asset value being around Rs 45 Lakhs, and thus, he was likely to flee.
Analysis
Noting the averments made by Sunil Kakkad and in the absence of any serious contention raised by the respondents, the Court held that the application required consideration and thus, Sunil Kakkad was allowed to travel to UAE, subject to the following conditions:
-
The Lookout circular shall not hinder him from traveling abroad, as per the itinerary provided.
-
The exact itinerary, including contact details of places of stay, shall be furnished by way of an undertaking before departure to the Registry of the Court.
-
He shall abide by the said undertaking and return in accordance with the itinerary, failing which, it would be open for this Court to initiate appropriate steps in accordance with law.
-
He shall deposit Rs.25 Lakhs by Demand Draft in the name of Registrar, High Court of Gujarat, which shall be returned to him after he returns, for which no formal order of this Court will be required.
-
He shall not seek any further extension to continue his stay, except for the itinerary that would be placed before the Registry.
-
He shall not open or close any bank account overseas and shall not enter any property transactions abroad.
-
He shall not seek any adjournment in any proceedings before any authority and/ or Court on the grounds that he is traveling abroad.
The Court further directed the Immigration Authorities at all ports of departure, including airports, to permit the applicant to clear immigration and board the flights. The respondent Bank was also directed to inform the Bureau of Immigration so that the necessary instructions could be issued. The Bureau of Immigration shall update its systems to permit the free passage of Sunil as per this order.
Accordingly, the application was allowed.
[Sunil Surendrakumar Kakkad v. Union of India, 2025 SCC OnLine Guj 1977, decided on 03-06-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For the petitioner: Mohit A Gupta
For the respondent: Kshitij M Amin and Nalini S Lodha