The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the Centre’s appeal against a Bombay High Court order that had quashed a look-out circular (LOC) issued against Samuel Miranda, former house help of the late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput. The decision came after no one appeared to argue the case when it was called for hearing, leading Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan to conclude there was no merit in the appeal.
The LOC, initially issued by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), was intended to prevent Miranda from leaving the country while under investigation. However, the Bombay High Court in its April 10 ruling found the basis for the LOC—merely the registration of an FIR—insufficient to suggest that Miranda might evade arrest or not be available for trial.
During the proceedings, the high court criticized the lack of concrete reasons for issuing and continuing the LOC. “Nothing was brought to our notice in the LOC, reflecting the ‘reason’ for issuing of the LOC, except registration of an FIR and setting out the gist of the FIR,” the court noted, adding that there was no subsequent request from the CBI for the continuation or renewal of the LOC after its initial one-year duration.
Furthermore, the high court highlighted that the CBI had neither filed a charge-sheet nor a closure report in the intervening years. It acknowledged that Miranda had cooperated fully with the investigation, appearing at the CBI office whenever summoned.
Miranda contended before the high court that the prolonged enforcement of the LOC, lasting over 3.5 years without any prosecutorial progress, had unjustly infringed upon his fundamental right to travel, as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
