The Bombay High Court Monday set aside the condition that former stockbroker Ketan Parekh had to deposit Rs 27 crore with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to travel abroad for two weeks, instead directing him to deposit Rs 5 lakh as a security deposit. The court said it did not find the earlier condition reasonable and proportional to the objective of keeping him present for the trial.Parekh, who was debarred from the stock market for 14 years due to his alleged role in a 2000-01 securities fraud case, is facing criminal charges before a special Sebi court in Mumbai.He approached the high court against an order passed earlier this month, directing him to pay Rs 27 crore. While Sebi had stated that the deposit should be made as per an interim order passed in January, directing that the amount was part of the alleged unlawful gains made by Parekh and others and should be impounded, Parekh argued that such a condition to deposit a huge sum negated the permission granted to travel abroad.“…it does not appear that the learned Special Judge found it necessary to impose the said condition to secure the presence of the petitioner (Parekh) at the trial or to ensure that the conditions on which the Petitioner was released on bail, were complied with,” noted Justice N J Jamadar in the order Monday.A direction for deposit of the amount appears to be a measure towards enforcing the interim order and showcause notice dated January 2, the order said.“The petitioner must suffer the consequences that emanate (from) the failure to deposit the said amount, as envisaged by the provisions of the (Sebi) Act, 1992 and the Regulations thereunder. However, the deposit of the said amount cannot be made a condition precedent for travel abroad in connection with the prosecutions which were initiated a decade ago,” the order added.The high court stated that the remaining conditions set by the special court, which allowed Parekh to travel abroad, remain unchanged.Story continues below this ad“The right to travel abroad has been considered to be a facet of right to life and personal liberty, and, thus, cannot be subjected to unreasonable and arbitrary restrictions, even when a person is facing a prosecution. While granting permission to travel abroad, undoubtedly, the jurisdictional court is empowered to put conditions. However, the conditions ought not be so onerous that the right to travel abroad itself is defeated,” the high court said.Not a flight risk, argues Ketan Parkh’s counselParekh sought permission to travel to Thailand from November 5 to November 9 for a family vacation and from November 18 to November 28 for a family wedding in the UAE.Senior Advocate Amit Desai submitted that Parekh had been permitted to travel abroad in the past and returned as per the conditions, showing that he is not a flight risk. He also stated that Sebi’s interim order cannot be considered final, as no proceedings have been initiated against Parekh based on it.Desai also submitted that the special court could not have taken into account an order passed in a “collateral proceeding” which had no nexus with the cases before it.Story continues below this adSenior Advocate Chetan Kapadia, representing Sebi, stated that the court cannot be oblivious to the fact that Parekh “indulged in manipulative trade while on bail”, and argued that the interim order had not been challenged and hence had attained finality.Last month, the special court refused to grant blanket permission to Parekh to travel abroad for four months, after Sebi opposed his plea, citing the possibility of him indulging in unlawful activity in contraventionof the securities law.It referred to the interim order by Sebi, which debars him, along with two others, for front-running, claiming that he had misused his previous foreign travel permissions. Following this, Parekh submitted another application seeking limited permission to travel to Thailand and the UAE for two weeks, which was granted by the special court, subject to the condition of depositing Rs 27 crore with Sebi, which has now been set aside.