Prayagraj: Observing that a person cannot be deprived of his right to travel abroad merely because he is accused in a criminal case, Allahabad high court on Thursday permitted senior journalist Siddharth Varadarajan to travel to New York in connection with his scheduled programme from Sept 28 to Oct 7. Varadarajan is on anticipatory bail in criminal cases arising from a 2020 report and tweets pertaining to chief minister Yogi Adityanath.The high court, however, directed him to return to India on or before Oct 9 and appear before the trial court at Ayodhya on Oct 12. The court further directed that if Varadarajan failed to return within the stipulated period, the state would be at liberty to take coercive steps.Passing the above directives, Justice Chandra Dhari Singh observed, “The court has to strike a balance between personal liberty and interest of investigation/trial. In the case of Pervez Noordin Lokhandwalla Vs state of Maharashtra (2020), the Supreme Court held that the permission to travel abroad can be granted subject to appropriate conditions ensuring presence of accused.”The court accepted Varadarajan’s unconditional and unqualified apology for failing to surrender his passport as directed in the court’s May 15, 2020 anticipatory bail order and condoned the delay/non-compliance.The court cautioned him to be more careful in future and to strictly abide by all directions issued by it. Two FIRs were registered against Varadarajan in Ayodhya in 2020. They relate to a report published by his news portal on March 31, 2020 titled ‘Covid-19 Cases Spike in Nizamuddin Nehru Stadium in Delhi to Become Quarantine Centre’, which was also tweeted by Varadarajan on March 31 and April 1, 2020.
