New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday quashed Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against Greenpeace activist Priya Pillai.
Justice Rajiv Shakdher further directed authorities to expunge endorsements made while offloading Pillai from a flight to London by immigration officials on January 11.
The court had reserved the order in the case on February 19.
Pillai had objected to the government's move of offloading her when she was on her way to London to brief British parliamentarians on the rights of forest-dwelling communities affected by coal mining.
The Greenpeace activist had said she has the fundamental right to express her opinion on issues, both nationally and internationally.
"There is no law that has been invoked by the government to justify their action of preventing her from exercising her fundamental right of speech and expression before members of Parliament in Britain," she had told the court.
The central government had earlier told the court that Pillai was "involved in anti-national activities" and that was why she was offloaded at the airport.
The central government had offloaded Pillai and also issued a LOC, against which she moved the court.
Advocate Indira Jaising, who appeared for Pillai, had argued that the LOC was issued "without any authority of law".
The high court had earlier termed as "inappropriate" the central government's decision to prevent Pillai from leaving India on the ground that she would project a negative image of the country at the international level.
In her petition, she said her offloading was "illegal and arbitrary" and she had a valid business visa for six months to visit London where she was scheduled to address British parliamentarians on January 14.
Pillai was invited to talk about her campaign with local communities in Mahan in Madhya Pradesh, where a proposed coal mining project is allegedly threatening to uproot the lives and livelihood of the community.
(With IANS inputs)
