The Ministry of Home Affairs last Friday is believed to have asked the Bureau of Immigration to not let promoters of firms with loans to repay leave the country. “They have been told to not allow them through the emigration check point and to turn them back,” The Indian Express quotes unidentified officials as saying.

They said wilful defaulters – those who do not repay bank loans despite having the capacity to do so – will be allowed to travel abroad only after submitting a court order that says they have permission to travel for a specific reason, primarily medical. The unidentified officials also said such individuals will have to pledge a collateral and guarantee that their family members will be in India while they travel abroad, according to The Indian Express.

The officials told the newspaper that the ministry issued the order after the Reserve Bank of India gave the Ministry of External Affairs a list of defaulters for details of their passports. The names and passport numbers of wilful defaulters under the scanner were sent to the Bureau of Immigration earlier in February.

The government has faced much ridicule for allowing jeweller Nirav Modi to leave the country, just weeks before the Punjab National Bank alleged he had defrauded it of Rs 11,380 crore. The Centre faced the same criticism after businessman Vijay Mallya and former commissioner of the Indian Premier League Lalit Modi left the country – Mallya is wanted in India on charges of defrauding banks of more than Rs 9,000 crore, and Lalit Modi faces charges of money laundering.