Lookout Circular Cancellation

A Lookout Circular (LOC) issued by an authorised agency through the Bureau of Immigration can stop a person from leaving the country. LOCs are governed by Office Memoranda of the Ministry of Home Affairs (the foundational OM dated 27.10.2010 and subsequent updates), which require issuance only by competent authorities, for specified reasons, and with periodic review. Courts routinely interfere where an LOC is issued mechanically, without recording reasons, without authority, or in a purely commercial / civil dispute that does not justify curtailing the fundamental right to travel under Articles 19 and 21. Banks frequently request LOCs against borrowers in default — a practice High Courts have repeatedly scrutinised. Relief ranges from outright quashing to conditional permission to travel on an undertaking or bond. We verify the LOC’s basis, make focused representations to the issuing authority, and — where there is no response or the LOC is legally infirm — file writ petitions under Article 226 for cancellation, along with interim applications for leave to travel.