Delhi HC grants permission to businessman Arpan Gupta to travel to Bali, suspend LOC

The High Court has suspended the Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against him during the period of his travel from May 14 to 20, 2026. The LOC was opened at the instance of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). He is not accused in any ECIR filed by the ED.

It is alleged that Arpan Gupta's friend, one Lakshay Vij, who was in the ED's custody, has allegedly been running a hawala racket, facilitated by an illegal betting app, namely Mahadev Betting App and is facing allegations inter alia of money laundering under the PMLA.

Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani allowed the petition of Arpan Gupta, imposing strict conditions.

The bench directed to file a personal bond of Rs 50 lakh and one surety bond from the petitioner's wife. He shall file with the Investigating Officer (I.O.) his detailed itinerary.

The High Court has also directed that he shall not travel to any country other than Indonesia. While abroad, the Petitioner shall not apply for citizenship/residence status of any country; nor shall he renounce his Indian citizenship.

"What emerges from the foregoing is that at least as of now, the petitioner is neither an accused in the ECIR nor has his presence been requisitioned by the ED for purposes of investigation at this stage. Despite that, the petitioner's right to travel guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution remains suspended since the ED may require him for investigation at some subsequent stage; and an LOC has been opened against the petitioner at the ED's instance," Justice Bhambhani said.

Arpan Gupta had sought permission to travel to Bali, Indonesia, from 05.05.2026 to 10.05.2026, for which purpose the petitioner had also sought suspension of the Look-Out-Circular ('LOC') opened against him.

The ED opposed the application and filed an affidavit.

Senior advocate N Hariharan appeared for Arpan Gupta and argued that a perusal of the counter-affidavit filed by the ED would show that, in essence and substance, the allegation against the petitioner is that Lakshay Vij was running illegal betting and hawala transactions through the petitioner, who (latter) is claimed to be running a fake call-centre and illegal betting operation and engaging in money laundering.

On the other hand, advocate Vivek Gurnani, who appeared for the ED, has opposed the prayer made in the application, submitting that, as narrated in their counter-affidavit, the petitioner has evaded 03 summonses issued to him by the ED, as detailed in para 23 of their counter-affidavit.

He submitted that when the ED raided the petitioner's residential premises, the petitioner had destroyed his mobile phone, which was recorded in the panchnama. (ANI)