The Delhi High Court, Saturday (April 4, 2022) granted permission to the donation fraud accused journalist Rana Ayyub to travel abroad. The permission, however, came with a few pre-requisite conditions. As per the court order, Rana must disclose the details of travel, her contact and her place of stay.
The Delhi High Court was hearing Rana Ayyub’s plea seeking interim relief from the Enforcement Directorate’s action against her, stopping her from travelling abroad.
According to reports, the Delhi HC specified that Rana Ayyub could travel to Italy provided she submitted an undertaking to return and deposit some money to show her bonafide. Rana’s counsel submitted that the journalist would return to India on April 11.
As per reports, the court stated that Ayyub has her old parents here in India and noted that the amount of alleged misappropriation is not ‘that big’, and is around just “10-12 crores”.
Detailed order with conditions will soon follow.
On Friday, the Delhi High Court had asked the Enforcement Directorate, on whose orders Ayyub was barred from leaving the country, to file a status report on its case against her by 2:30 pm on Monday.
Controversial ‘journalist’ Rana Ayyub had filed a petition requesting the Delhi High Court to allow her to travel outside India to attend an event. On March 29, she was stopped by Indian Immigration officials from boarding a flight to London concerning the money laundering case against her. She has been accused of financial fraud over allegations of violation of provisions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
During the hearing today, the Additional Solicitor General (ASG), representing the Enforcement Directorate, had opposed the lifting of travel restrictions on Ayyub, saying that the apprehension was that if she leaves, she may not head back.
ASG had argued that some conditions must be imposed on Rana Ayyub to make sure she returns.
Court had then asked how much money should she be required to submit? ASG Raju opined that Ayyub should head back to Bombay and that all her details about her foreign trip should lie with the Authorities.
Notably, on Friday, ASG SV Raju had told the court, “This case is not as simple as what is being portrayed. Rana Ayyub raised funds under the garb of covid relief and money running into up to 2 crores. They have been siphoned off. These were received in INR, Dollars. Fake bills were submitted by her in the name of relief work. A deposit of 50 lakh was created for herself by Rana Ayyub, and 50 lakhs were transferred for personal consumption. A lookout notice was issued much earlier.”
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating Ayyub for donations she raised through an online crowdfunding platform, “Ketto”, citing coronavirus pandemic relief work and then keeping the money in her personal accounts. The Enforcement Directorate attached assets worth Rs 1.77 crore of Rana Ayyub over allegations of violation of provisions of the Money Laundering Act.