2 weeks ago
High Court Quashes Haryana’s Blanket Foreign Travel Ban
Haryana had stopped its government employees from travelling to other countries until September 2026.
A nursing officer wanted to go to Australia for an important professional examination.
Officials refused to consider her leave application because of the ban.
She challenged the decision in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The court said travelling abroad is part of a person’s constitutional right to life and personal liberty.
It also said the government treated all employees alike without considering why they needed to travel.
The court found no clear connection between stopping this nurse from travelling and saving fuel or other resources.
It said the ban was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
The court cancelled the broad restriction and ordered officials to let her travel for the examination.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court struck down Haryana’s June 10, 2026 ban on employees travelling abroad until September 2026.
Justice Harpreet Singh Brar ordered authorities to permit a nursing officer to travel to Australia for a professional examination.
The court held that the right to travel abroad forms part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21.
It found the ban arbitrary and disproportionate because it applied to employees without considering their duties, destination, duration or travel purpose.
Haryana defended the restriction as a temporary austerity measure linked to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the West Asian crisis.
- Who
- The Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Harpreet Singh Brar, a Haryana nursing officer and the Government of Haryana.
- What
- The court quashed Haryana’s blanket prohibition on foreign travel by government employees and directed authorities to permit the nursing officer’s trip to Australia.
- Where
- The case was heard in the Punjab and Haryana High Court; the petitioner planned to travel from Haryana to Australia.
- When
- Justice Harpreet Singh Brar issued the order on August 27; the challenged guidelines were dated June 10, 2026, and applied until September 2026.
- Why
- The court found the restriction arbitrary and disproportionate, while Haryana said it was needed for austerity, resource conservation and reduced expenditure during international crises.
Petitioner and High Court
Haryana Government
Constitutionality of the ban
Petitioner and High Court
The petitioner argued that the blanket restriction was unconstitutional, arbitrary and disproportionate. The court held that foreign travel is part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21.
Haryana Government
The state argued that the government could temporarily regulate employees’ foreign travel in the larger public interest.
Austerity and resource conservation
Petitioner and High Court
The court found no rational connection between preventing private foreign travel and conserving fuel or addressing the effects of global crises.
Haryana Government
The government said the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the West Asian crisis had affected fuel and other essential resources, requiring temporary austerity and reduced expenditure.
Individual circumstances
Petitioner and High Court
The court said the guidelines failed to consider an employee’s designation, duties, destination, travel duration or purpose. It also said blocking the nursing officer’s examination trip hindered her professional advancement.
Haryana Government
The government maintained that the restrictions were temporary and applied broadly as a public-interest measure rather than through individual assessments.
Key facts
- Court
- Punjab and Haryana High Court
- Judge
- Justice Harpreet Singh Brar
- Challenged restriction
- June 10, 2026 guidelines barring government employees and staff of boards, corporations and public authorities from foreign travel until September 2026, except for medical reasons
- Petitioner
- A nursing officer at PGIMS hospital in Rohtak
- Travel purpose
- An Objective Structured Clinical Examination in Australia for professional advancement and higher qualification
- Constitutional provisions
- Articles 14 and 21, including protections for equality, fairness, personal liberty and the right to travel abroad
- Government justification
- A temporary austerity measure linked to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the West Asian crisis, fuel supplies and other essential resources
Quotes
Punjab and Haryana High Court
Court speaking through Justice Harpreet Singh Brar’s order
“A perusal of the impugned Instructions makes it evident that a blanket prohibition with respect to foreign travel has been mechanically applied to all government employees.”
theprint.in
“The factual matrix of the present case is illustrative of a sledgehammer being used to crack a nut, which is impermissible in our constitutional jurisprudence.”
theprint.in
thehansindia.com
Sources
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