I am handling a case in the Supreme Court, wherein the SLP of the husband against a verdict in domestic violence case was rejected by the Supreme Court and his revision application in a conviction under Section 498A IPC was pending before the High Court (conviction was by Magistrate and appeal was dismissed by Sessions Court and the revision was pending before HC), and yet even at this late stage when the guilt had already been established, the Supreme Court had allowed the husband to go to USA for six months for a job. In that case, the husband did not return from USA even after the permitted period of six months, hence the case is now pending before Supreme Court for bringing him back from USA.
So, the point is - there is no general rule restricting foreign visits of an accused person who is on bail. Permission to go abroad depends on the facts and circumstances of the individual case. Usually, such permission may be granted subject to reasonable / strict restrictions aimed at ensuring that the person concerned returns when it is necessary as per law.
Also, remember that in the famous case of Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, (1978) 1 SCC 248 : AIR 1978 SC 597 : (1978) 2 SCR 621, a 7-Judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court had held that the right to go abroad is included within “personal liberty” guaranteed as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution and that this right can be taken away only in accordance with procedure established by law, and moreover, “procedure” mentioned in Article 21 cannot be arbitrary, unfair, oppressive or unreasonable.
The fact remains that your right to go abroad can be curtailed only in a lawful manner. Usually, a condition is mentioned in the bail conditions restricting foreign visits without court’s permission and sometimes passport is also required to be deposited with the court / police. I do not know what are the bail conditions in your case. But, it goes without saying that notwithstanding any such condition imposed while granting bail, such a condition can always be relaxed by the court subject to reasonable restrictions if you can show genuine reasons to go abroad. In fact, there are a large number of cases in which accused persons on bail, seek permission from court to visit abroad and they are in fact granted such permission by various courts. So, you’ll have to try it by making an application before the court.
