On Monday, the Supreme Court asked a member of Parliament from the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Abhishek Banerjee, and his wife, Rujira Banerjee, to join the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe in Delhi as part of a case related to illegal mining of coal. In passing the order, the bench constituted by Justices Bela M. Trivedi and SC Sharma supported the ED’s stand that the accused could be associated with the offences committed in Delhi based on adequate reasons for the summons issued to the accused.
The couple filed the petition in the Supreme Court after the ED served them a summons in September 2021, in which the couple agreed to be interrogated at the ED of Kolkata, where they stay. However, the bench paid attention to the facts and figures mentioned in the status report of ED and also learned that a complaint had been filed in the special court in New Delhi against the couple. The report stated that ₹168 crore was paid by co-accused Anup Majee to inspector Ashok Kumar Mishra to pass on the same to his “political bosses”, thereby supporting the ED’s case involving nexus to the alleged offences.
The bench said, “. . ₹168 crore through vouchers to Delhi and other places, there was enough nexus of the offence and the offenders with the territory of Delhi Hence, we do not find any illegality in the summons issued by the respondent ED summoning the appellants to its office in Delhi. ”
Two senior advocates, Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for the couple, said that the summons issued under the PMLA must follow the provisions of CrPC. They argued that PMLA Section 50, which attracts the power to summon the ED, is largely bereft of procedural requirements.
Check here for the latest updates in Hindi!