Foreign nationals facing trial in India also entitled to dignity under Article 21: Madras High Court

Foreigners facing trial in India are also entitled to right to life and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution, the Madras High Court recently said..The Court made the observation while staying a lookout circular (LoC) issued by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against a citizen of Seychelles, who is facing trial in India in a case of financial irregularities.In an order passed on September 10, Justice N Seshasayee stayed the LoC issued by the CBI against one Karthik Parthiban, the petitioner in the case. The Court permitted Parthiban to travel to Malaysia to meet his wife and other family members.Justice Sesashayee said while the Court understood the CBI’s apprehension that if permitted to leave the country, Parthiban might never return to India, the Court cannot magnify such apprehension..“If Article 21 by its very wording applies to non-citizens, then right to personal life of any foreign national facing a criminal charge in India must also be recognised as falling within his right to his dignified existence. Anything personal is part of one's privacy and unless it is enabled by law, it cannot be invaded, even if the accused person is a foreign national,” the High Court said.The Court further said that the investigation in the case was complete and CBI had filed its final report before the trial court. Therefore, ensuring that the accused remained present before the court for framing of charges and the trial was now the concern of the court and not the CBI’s, the High Court said..Parthiban had approached the Court claiming that he was stuck in India because of the LoC. He said his wife and elderly in-laws, who live in Malaysia, were facing distress and had recently fallen victims to an incident of burglary and assault and therefore, he needed to visit them.The CBI opposed Parthiban’s petition and argued that he was the director of the company that was involved in a large-scale financial scam, and if he did not return to India to face trial, the same would result in financial losses worth over ₹600 crore.Parthiban cited the Supreme Court judgement in the case of Maneka Gandhi vs Union of India, and argued that the “line of demarcation separating Article 19 and 21 had been erased,” and even though he was a foreign citizen, he was entitled to lead a life with dignity..The High Court agreed and said that the criminal justice system should only worry about ensuring that the accused submit themselves to the jurisdiction of the courts and participates in the trial and that it should not be bothered by how the accused leads his life and does business.Hence, it stayed the LoC and permitted Parthiban to travel to Malaysia subject to the condition that he returns to India and participates in the criminal proceedings. The Court also directed Parthiban to provide a schedule of his travel plan to both the trial court and the CBI and granted him leave to travel strictly as per such schedule..Advocate Vijayan Subramanian appeared for Parthiban.Special Public Prosecutor K Srinivasan appeared for the CBI..[Read Order]