Exasperated by 161 private foreign trips by a senior central government official, the Delhi high court has asked the Centre to formulate within three months detailed guidelines for government officials' visits abroad and ensure its strict compliance 'in the larger interest of the country'.

A division bench of Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice R C Jain directed the Home, Finance and Revenue Secretaries of the Union Government and the Central Bureau of Investigation chief to look into the matter, prepare the guidelines and submit a copy of the guidelines to the court.

The order came on a petition by a senior scientist of the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory, C K Jain, who had challenged his detention under Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Act (COFEPOSA).

The forensic expert was caught with foreign exchange worth about Rs 65 lakh minutes before he was to board a Dubai-bound flight on March 7, 2003.

An additional amount of Rs 620,000, including foreign currency worth Rs 100,000, was later recovered by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) sleuths from his Delhi residence.

The court upheld Jain's detention though he had been released on bail in May after the statutory one-year period.

Jain had sought setting aside of his detention under COFEPOSA on the ground of non-forwarding of his representation by jail authorities, non-application of mind while deciding his bail plea and absence of any compelling necessity to issue the detention order.

However, the court was shocked to know that Jain made as many as 161 private foreign trips, mainly to Dubai and Singapore and upheld his detention in view of the fact that his visits abroad were made without permission from the government as required under relevant rules.

What surprised the court was that no one in the Customs suspected why a government servant visited foreign nations so frequently without permission.

"The intelligence agencies need to be more vigilant," the court observed.

The court's direction assumes significance in the wake of the sudden 'disappearance' of senior Research and Analysis Wing official Ravinder Singh, who possessed sensitive information concerning national security.