The court ruled that the distinction between tourist and employment visas is a factual matter for trial, affirming the special court's denial of discharge.

ORDER :

A. Badharudeen, J.

The 5^th accused in C.C.No.21/2016 on the files of the Special Court (SPE/CBI)-I, Ernakulam, has filed this criminal revision petition under Sections 438 and 442 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita , 2023 (hereinafter referred to as ‘ BNSS ’ for short), challenging order dated 06.02.2025 in Crl.M.P.No. 374/2024 in the above case, whereby the plea of discharge at the instance of the revision petitioner was disallowed by the Special Court.

2. Heard the learned counsel for the revision petitioner as well as the learned Special Public Prosecutor for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Perused the prosecution records placed by the learned Special Public Prosecutor for CBI and the relevant documents filed by the counsel for the revision petitioner to substantiate the case of the revision petitioner.

3. The prosecution case, as could be read out from the records, in a nutshell reads as under:

The emigration wing of Cochin International Airport Ltd. (CIAL) and Trivandrum International Airport was being handled by the Kerala Police Department till it was taken over on 31.07.2012 by the Bureau of Immigration under the General Superintendent and Controller, Bureau of Immigration, New Delhi. The counter officers on duty at departure side of the airport should check passport of passengers by using swiping machine, comparing the photo in the passport with the person by using the Passport Registration and Identification System (PRIDE) or Passport Information Service on Net (PISON) or Ultra Violet Lamp for its genuineness, date of issue, date of expiry, photo substitution, page alteration etc., check visa for its genuineness, check for lookout circular (LOC), check for emigration clearance issued by the Protector of Emigrants (PoE), if the emigrant is with ECR passport and is travelling on employment visa. There were organized trafficking of people from India to Gulf. This was possible through a complicated nexus among various travel agents, employees of travel agents, emigration officials and also a few officials who were repatriated to Kerala Police from emigration duties. On getting such information, the Government of Kerala issued notification No.81/2014/Home dated 28.04.2014 and Government of India issued notification No.228/38/2013/AVD-II dated 27.06.2014 u/s.5 of the Delhi Special Establishment Act. On the basis of such notification, the Central Bureau of Investigation, Thiruvananthapuram, registered this case as RC 6/A/2014/CBI/SCB/TVM. Investigation was conducted against 45 persons allegedly involved in the racket.

4. On investigation, it has been revealed that there existed organized collection of money by travel agents from passengers, especially those from weaker sections of the society, in the pretext of facilitating their emigration clearance. A share of this money was being paid to public servants for facilitating smooth emigration clearance. The extra amount collected by the travel agents helped the unauthorized passengers to travel illegally and also the genuine passengers to travel without the hassles of emigration check. The Immigration Officers at the counter (Counter Officers) had wide discretionary power to raise objection to travel of even a genuine passenger. On the other hand, the counter officers could illegally clear passengers with forged passports and 'Emigration Clearance Required' (ECR) category passengers on job visa without the clearance of Protector of Emigrants (PoE). The scope of detection of irregularities in travel documents is only at the emigration check point. The counter officers are duty bound to check the illegal