MHA Revises Guidelines for Look Out Circulars | 11 Mar 2026

Source: IE 

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has modified the guidelines for issuance of Look Out Circulars (LOCs), restricting the power to directly instruct the Bureau of Immigration (BoI) to block a person's departure. 

• Restriction on Statutory Bodies: The MHA has explicitly barred statutory bodies like the National Commission for Women (NCW), National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) from directly requesting the BoI to open an LOC. 
  • All LOC requests from such bodies must now be routed through a law enforcement agency with criminal jurisdiction (e.g., Police, CBI). 
• Standardized Actions: The LOC proforma has been updated to include 3 standardized options for action, i.e.,  
  • Detain and inform the originator (agency that sought the LOC) 
  • Prevent departure and inform the originator  
  • See remarks for action. 
• Intelligence Agency Prerogative: The "see remarks" category may be used by intelligence agencies such as IB, R&AW, CBI, NIA and State Anti-Terrorism Squad units only for counter-terrorism purposes. 
  • The "See remarks" category allows flexible or non-standardized response in sensitive national security contexts where predefined actions may not suffice. 
• Handling Court Orders: When immigration receives a court order, it must immediately inform the agency that issued the original LOC. That agency must respond within 7 working days. The person cannot leave India until the Bureau of Immigration updates the LOC status as directed by the court. 
• Timelines for Custody: Strict timelines have been imposed for enforcement. If a person is detained under an LOC, the originating agency must take custody within 3 hours, failing which the individual will be handed over to local police. The originator then has 24 hours to assume formal custody.