Delhi High Court enables journalist Rana Ayyub to travel overseas

‘Enforcement Directorate lookout circular issued in haste’ 

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Rana Ayyub
Journalist Rana Ayyub allowed to travel overseas by the Delhi High Court with conditions as Justice Singh said that the lookout circular was issued in haste Photo The Wire www.thewire.in

On 4 April 2022, the Delhi High Court allowed journalist Rana Ayyub to travel overseas, saying that the enforcement Directorate’s lookout circular barring her from traveling out of the country was ‘issued in haste.’ The Indian Express story on the following morning reports that Justice Chandra Dhari Singh said that the lookout circular interferes with Ayyub’s right to personal liberty and free movement. The court said that the Enforcement Directorate has no ‘cogent reason’ to presume that she would not appear before it as she had done so, “On each and every date … when summoned.”

Rana Ayyub was detained at the Mumbai airport as she was scheduled to fly to London. The purported reason for stopping her from leaving the country was because the Enforcement Directorate is investigating the use of funds she collected to help people during the Covid-19 lockdown using the online Ketto platform. The government enforcement agency has apparently alleged that she has not completely used the funds for the purpose that they were raised. 

After two hours of detention at the airport, the Enforcement Directorate emailed a summons to her, directing her to remain present before it on 1 April 2022. In the high court, additional solicitor general SV Raja appeared for the Enforcement Directorate and accused her of withholding documents. Advocate Vrinda Grover representing Ayyub told the court that she had supplied all the documents to the Enforcement Directorate and also volunteered to appear before it. 

Lookout circular a coercive measure

“The impugned LOC (lookout circular) is accordingly liable to be set aside as being devoid of merit as well as for infringing the human right of the petitioner to travel abroad and to exercise her freedom of speech and expression,” the court stated. Justice Chandra Dhari Singh called the lookout circular a coercive measure to make a person surrender, saying it is to be issued in cases where the accused is deliberately evading summons or arrest or where a person fails to appear in court despite being issued a non-bailable warrant. 

The court also questioned the Enforcement Directorate’s argument that Ayyub is only making, “A show of cooperation.” Justice Singh asked why she had not been arrested, “She is not charged for Rs. 1,000 crores … must be Rs 10 crores, 20 crores. (You have) already frozen her account.”

Nevertheless, Ayyub will be required to submit her travel dates along with a detailed itinerary with the addresses of the places she will be visiting and also deposit a surety of Rs 1 lakh with the Enforcement Directorate in Mumbai. She will also have to return to Mumbai before 11 April 2022. “The petitioner shall give the undertaking to appear before the investigation agency immediately on her return and on the dates that might be fixed by the investigation agency for interrogation, if any, after the travel period,” the court said. 

2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India

Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.

The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry. While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.

The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.

Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.

Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.

Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.

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