The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday informed the Delhi high court that it would not insist on the appearance of former CM of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti before March 19. Mufti had moved court seeking to quash summons issued to her by the agency in a money laundering case, asking her to appear before it on March 15.
Advocate Amit Mahajan, central government standing counsel, appearing for the ED, sought time from the bench of justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup J Bhambhani, which posted the matter for March 19.
The Peoples Democratic Party leader, through her counsel Prasanna S, has also challenged the validity of Section 50 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) under which she was summoned. Section 50 of PMLA gives powers to the authorities to summon any person whose attendance they consider necessary whether to give evidence or to produce any records during the course of any investigation under the Act.
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Mufti has sought an interim stay on the summons until the question of law in relation to constitutionality of Section 50 of the Act is decided. Her plea said that the summons was issued under the PMLA but the case under which she was asked to appear was missing from the notice. In her petition before the high court, she said she had not been informed if she is being summoned as an accused or as a witness.
{{/usCountry}}Mufti has sought an interim stay on the summons until the question of law in relation to constitutionality of Section 50 of the Act is decided. Her plea said that the summons was issued under the PMLA but the case under which she was asked to appear was missing from the notice. In her petition before the high court, she said she had not been informed if she is being summoned as an accused or as a witness.
{{/usCountry}}“She has not been informed if she is being summoned as an accused or as a witness. She has also not been informed of what she is being summoned in connection with and the scheduled offence under the PMLA which gave rise to the proceedings in respect of which impugned summons has been issued to her. The petitioner is not the subject of investigation, nor is she an accused, in any of the scheduled offences to the best of her knowledge,” the plea said.