A case can be running against you in India for years before you hear of it. A complaint is filed, summons go to an address you left a decade ago, and the first you know is when a relative mentions it — or when you land.

We act in criminal matters before the Punjab & Haryana High Court and the district courts of both states, for clients living abroad.

What we act in

We act for non-resident Indians in criminal matters at every level — before the courts, and at the administrative and investigative stage where a matter has not yet reached court.

That includes representation before the police and investigating agencies, before the district courts and the Punjab & Haryana High Court, and before the authorities concerned in matters of passport, immigration and record.

498A and dowry proceedings. Defence, anticipatory bail, and quashing where the complaint does not disclose an offence.

Property fraud and forgery. Forged powers of attorney, fabricated sale deeds, and transfers effected without the owner’s knowledge — a recurring difficulty where property is left unattended for years.

Land grabbing. Unlawful occupation of land belonging to owners settled abroad, and proceedings to recover possession.

Cheating and criminal breach of trust. Including matters arising from property transactions and investments made from abroad.

Cheque bounce. Proceedings under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, whether as complainant or in defence.

Proclaimed offender matters. Applications to set aside proclamation and recall warrants.

Bail, quashing and revision. Anticipatory and regular bail, quashing petitions before the High Court, and revision against orders passed below.

The difficulty of distance

Criminal proceedings are not like civil ones. A power of attorney lets us conduct a property suit or a divorce on your behalf entirely; it does not cover criminal proceedings in the same way, and personal appearance is required at stages the court directs.

That does not mean nothing can be done from where you are. Bail can be applied for, quashing can be moved, and the position can be established — all before you book a flight. What is unwise is doing nothing, because a matter that could have been managed becomes one that cannot.

Look Out Circulars

An LOC is an alert issued to immigration authorities. Where one has been issued against you in a criminal matter, you should expect to be detained on arrival at an Indian airport and handed to the police.

You cannot check whether one exists. There is no portal, no online status, no reference to look up. This is the position that keeps people abroad for years — not knowing, and not being able to find out.

What you can do is have the position established through counsel. Two routes, both of which can be initiated while you remain outside India:

An RTI application to the relevant authority, asking whether a circular has been issued.

A criminal writ petition in the High Court, seeking disclosure and, where appropriate, quashing of the circular.

Which is appropriate depends on what else is on the file. Where an FIR has been registered, the writ petition is usually the more direct course, since it can address the circular and the underlying matter together.

Red Corner Notices

A Red Corner Notice is not issued by Interpol on its own initiative. The request originates with the court, passes through the CBI as India’s national bureau, and Interpol then issues the notice.

Unlike a Look Out Circular, a Red Corner Notice can sometimes be checked. Interpol publishes a wanted list, and where the requesting country has agreed to publication, the notice appears there.

The list is not complete. Many notices are restricted and never published, so finding nothing does not establish that nothing exists.

Passport impounding

The right to travel abroad forms part of the personal liberty guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution. It is not a privilege to be withdrawn administratively.

A passport therefore cannot be impounded as a matter of routine. There is a process, and it has to be followed. Where a passport has been impounded without it, that can be challenged by writ petition.

The remedy is rarely the notice itself

A Red Corner Notice, a Look Out Circular and an impounded passport all exist because of something underneath — an FIR, a warrant, a proclamation. The safeguards available are the same ones available in the case:

Quashing of the FIR, where the complaint does not disclose an offence.

Anticipatory bail, so that protection is in place before you land rather than sought after detention.

Challenge to the notice itself, by writ petition, where that is the appropriate course.

Where the underlying matter is resolved, the basis for the restriction falls away with it. This is why the question is not usually whether to risk travelling, but what stage the case has reached and what can be filed before you book anything.

Starting

Send us what you have — the FIR number if you have it, the summons, or simply an account of what family have told you. We will establish what stage the matter has reached and what can be filed from where you are.

Vaqeelsaab acts for non-resident Indians with legal matters in Punjab and Haryana. Property disputes, title verification, partition, succession, matrimonial proceedings and criminal defence — from our offices in Panchkula and at the District Court, Jagadhri, and before the Punjab & Haryana High Court at Chandigarh.

For matters in Delhi, Rajasthan and Gujarat, we work with counsel in the relevant jurisdiction and manage the matter for you.

Most of it can be handled without you travelling to India.

+91 94160 09800 | info@vaqeelsaab.com