Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has allowed industrialist Yashovardhan Birla to travel abroad till September 20, 2026, while staying the operation of a Look-Out Circular (LOC) issued against him in connection with investigations by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO).
A vacation bench of Justices Gautam Ankhad and Sandesh Patil passed the order on May 20 while hearing an interim application filed by Birla in his pending writ petition challenging the LOCs issued in 2016 and 2019.
Birla sought permission to travel to the United Kingdom, Europe, Switzerland, Germany, the United Arab Emirates and France for business and leisure purposes. His counsel told the court that Birla had earlier been permitted to travel abroad on four occasions between 2022 and 2025 and had returned to India each time without violating any conditions imposed by the court.
The court noted that Birla is facing prosecution under the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act, the Companies Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). It also took note of submissions that special courts dealing with the MPID and PMLA cases had already granted him permission to travel abroad till November 20, 2026.
The bench further observed that proceedings pending before a special court under the Companies Act had been stayed by the High Court in October 2023.
“Considering that the Applicant has travelled earlier and is ready to abide by the terms and conditions as may be imposed by this Court,” the bench said while allowing the plea.
The court directed Birla to file an affidavit containing his complete travel itinerary, addresses of stay and contact details before departure. He has also been directed not to seek extension of the travel permission and not to visit any country other than those specified in the order.
The court also directed immigration authorities to permit his travel irrespective of whether the immigration system had been updated with the order.
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