Hi Alex,
Thanks for picking up these issues
The answer is following - it's been a custom code that has migrated into In-Link module so it won't get lost. It's been used in a few projects on it's own (probably corrected there).
Here is task for this patch:
1182: Automatic Link Approval/Denial based on Reciprocal Link status
Patch has been applied and tested, please commit into 5.2.0
DA