Patna High Court Issues Guidelines For Private Foreign Visit Of Judicial Officers Of Subordinate Courts In Bihar

The Notification issued by Registrar General, Patna HC Nawneet Kumar Pandey states that "the Hon'ble Court have been pleased to issue the guidelines for grant of permission to the Judicial Officers/Judges of the Subordinate Judiciary for Private Foreign Visit".

Guidelines for Private Foreign Visit of Judicial Officers of Subordinate Courts of Bihar

1. Judicial Officers of Subordinate Courts can go abroad only on prior permission of the Hon'ble Court. The Officers will have to seek the permission of the Hon'ble Court for obtaining VISA and Tickets to visit abroad, well in advance.

2. Request for permission of Foreign Visit by a Judicial Officer of Subordinate Court shall not be considered for the period of court working days except in very exceptional circumstances like medical treatment of self, family members, parents, dependents or death of any relative or any other occasion, where the personal presence of the judicial officer cannot be dispensed with. The period of foreign visit during court working days under exceptional circumstances of such medical treatment on any emergent situation should normally not exceed 15 days.

3. Request for a foreign visit of the officer under suspension/departmental proceeding shall not be allowed during his suspension/departmental proceeding, except in very exceptional circumstances mentioned above at SI. No. 2.

4. Request for a foreign visit for pleasure/site seeing may be allowed for the period of pre-declared holidays / vacations.

5. Request for permission for a foreign visit should be sent to this court well in advance not less than two months prior to the proposed visit before applying for VISA except in exceptional circumstances.

6. While applying for permission to visit a foreign country, the Judicial Officer shall have to disclose the details of his passport, if any, source of funding, estimated expenditure to be incurred on foreign visit and relation of family members in a destination country where the visit is proposed.

7. Applications for grant of permission to undertake foreign visit and for sanction of leave for visiting abroad shall be furnished separately and be forwarded to the Registrar General through proper channel.

8. Overstay abroad without leave or extended leave of officers availing foreign visit shall not be condoned. The resignation will also not be accepted of officers while abroad on a foreign visit. Save and except unavoidable extraordinary situation, such overstay or application for resignation would entail disciplinary proceeding against the officer concerned.

9. The Applicant should give an undertaking/declaration that the particular foreign visit/tour is not at the behest of or financed by the persons or institutions/associations who are litigants before the courts of law and particularly in the area where the Judicial Officer is posted and is functioning.

10. The concerned judicial officer seeking such permission should certify that the judicial work of the said Judicial Officer during the proposed period of visit, will not be hampered in his/her absence, if the judicial officer is permitted to visit foreign countries.

11. Request for permission to visit abroad under these rules may be allowed by Hon'ble the Chief Justice. Apart from that any rules or guidelines issued by Central Government/State Government shall also apply.