Money laundering case: Why can’t TMC MP, wife travel abroad, SC asks ED

Banerjee’s wife and children were stopped at Kolkata airport on June 5 on account of the pending investigation in connection with the money laundering cases.

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to apprise it if a look out circular (LOC) has been issued against Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee and his wife Rujira Banerjee, and explain why it was not willing to allow to travel abroad for medical treatment.

A bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia asked the ED if it had issued any look out circular against Abhishek Banerjee. (ANI)

Banerjee’s wife and children were stopped at Kolkata airport on June 5 on account of the pending investigation in connection with the money laundering cases linked to an alleged coal scam in West Bengal.

A bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia asked the ED if it had issued any look out circular against Banerjee .

The bench said, “She has gone out before on many occasions. Why do you stop somebody. What is going on?” Senior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for the MP’s wife Rujira said that she has informed about a look out circular (LOC) issued by the probe agency to prevent her from travelling abroad. On July 26, Sibal informed that the MP too will be travelling abroad for medical treatment. Although he has no LOC issued against him, he became wary as his intimation to ED in this regard has not been answered.

“He has a right to travel abroad unless he is likely to abscond. If he is not being examined regularly, on what basis you issue LOC. Why do you want to create multiplicity of proceedings. If they have a medical situation, why should they be not allowed to fly,” said the bench, posting the matter to Friday for ED’s response on whether any LOC has been issued against Banerjee, who is the nephew of WB chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

Both Banerjee and Rujira had approached the Supreme Court last year challenging the summons issued by the ED calling them to Delhi for questioning. The summons were issued under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the couple requested the Court to allow them being questioned at ED’s Kolkata office, being their place of domicile.

In an application moved through advocate Sunil Fernandes early this month, Rujira said that she fully cooperated with the ED probe and there is no ED case against her as on date. “It is clear that the ED has acted with malice with the sole intention to harass and humiliate the applicant and scar her minor children by exercising its powers in such an illegal manner,” she said.

Further, it was pointed out that issuance of LOC is done in extremely rare and exceptional circumstances, which are absent in the present case as she is neither a threat to the sovereignty, security and integrity of India or to the economic interest of the country.

She pointed out that the decision to disallow her travel abroad despite cooperating with probe is nothing but “politically motivated” and “reeks of malafide”, where the agency is acting on the illegal diktats of the chosen few”.

In May the top court stayed any coercive action against Banerjee and had agreed to examine whether summons could be issued for a person at the place where he/she resides. Since this issue arose in similar other petitions, the Court had directed all similar petitions to be heard together.