The chair of Amnesty International in India Aakar Patel was stopped from travelling to the United States on Wednesday by the CBI based on a look-out circular issued in connection with a case against Amnesty India in 2019.
Patel was stopped at the Bengaluru International Airport on his journey to speak at some universities in the US. His passport was impounded after a case was filed by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi over his social media comment on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“CBI officer called to say I am on the Look-Out Circular because of the case Modi govt has filed against Amnesty International India,” Aakar Patel claims.
A trial court in Surat had in February ordered the release of Patel’s passport for the period between March 1 to May 30 to facilitate his travel to the US.
“Got passport back through court order specifically for this trip to the US,” Patel tweeted.
The passport was released on payment of a deposit amount of Rs 2 lakh and other conditions like the details of travel, contact numbers, and places of visit in the US.
This comes within a week of journalist Rana Ayyub being stopped from travelling to the UK by the Enforcement Directorate. On Tuesday, Delhi high court allowed Ayyub to travel.
