Shah Faesal seeks copy of Look Out Circular; Delhi HC asks govt to respond by Sep 1

New Delhi, Aug 28: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Union Government to file a reply to former IAS officer-turned-politician Shah Faesal's petition in which he has sought a copy Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against him.

The apex court reportedly Court asked the Centre to file reply by September 1 and fixed the next date of hearing for September 3.

Faesal, an IAS topper from Kashmir who resigned from service in protest against the government's handling of the Kashmir issue, was detained on August 14 and stopped from leaving the country. He was later placed under house arrest. Faesal had challenged his detention in the Delhi High Court.

The Centre had said that the Lookout Circular against Faesal was issued by the Intelligence Bureau (IB), based on which he was stopped from leaving the country.

In the wake of Article 370 being abrogated, the IB had warned that several persons from the Valley may look to leave India and try and drum up support in foreign countries. The Valley is vulnerable and in the wake of the Centre trying to restore normalcy, certain precautionary measures are necessary, an IB official had informed OneIndia.

Faesal has been a staunch critic of the BJP-led Union Government and bitterly criticised Centre's move to scrap the state's special status under Article 370.

After government's August 5 decision to scrap Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370, the former IAS officer and Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement President had termed the situation in the Valley as "unprecedented horror".

Faesal was on his way to Harvard University in the US for higher studies when he was detained at the Delhi airport under the Public Safety Act (PSA).