New Delhi: The Delhi high court has quashed an office memorandum by the Ministry of External Affairs requiring Supreme Court and high court judges to get clearance before travelling abroad, LiveLaw has reported.
A division bench of Justice Rajiv Shakdher and Justice Jasmeet Singh called the July 2021 office memorandum “uncalled for.”
“…[I]t is uncalled for, given the high offices they are holding, especially given the fact that nothing has changed since the 2011 guidelines were issued,” they said.
Guidelines concerning foreign visits by judges were issued in February 2011 and were followed up with a judgment in 2012 by the high court, which dispensed with the requirement of judges of the Supreme Court and high courts to get political clearance for private foreign visits.
Petitioner Aman Vachar had held that the requirement that judges of constitutional courts need political clearance to visit foreign countries infringes upon their right to privacy and also diminishes the high offices they hold.
LiveLaw has further reported that the high court also brushed away the contention raised by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union government, that information on judges travelling abroad was required during their private visits abroad “so that in case of any emergency they can be extended requisite assistance.”
This, the high court said, “overlooks the fact that information about judges’ travel plans is known the moment a request is made to the Consular, Passport and Visa Division of the Ministry of External Affairs for issuance of a ‘Visa Support Notes Verbale’.”
In any case, the court held, when an Indian citizen is in crisis, Indian missions abroad are duty-bound to help them whether they are judges or not.