The Delhi High Court has refused to grant interim relief to Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee and his wife Rujira Banerjee in the money laundering case related to the coal scam in West Bengal. The decision was taken by Justice Yogesh Khanna of the Delhi High Court on Tuesday, September 21.
Asking the ED to respond to the plea in three days, the court has fixed September 27 as the next date of hearing.
The Delhi HC was responding to Banerjee and his wife’s plea to quash the summons issued to them by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The husband-wife duo was asked by the agency to personally appear before it in Delhi under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 on September 21. The TMC MP had contended that they are residents of Kolkata and should not be compelled to join the probe in the national capital.
Opposing Banerjee’ plea the agency had said that money laundering has national and transnational ramifications and its investigation is not restricted to any police station or area.
The duo had last appeared before the department in Delhi on Monday, September 6, in connection to a money laundering case linked to the coal scam case. Then too, the duo had expressed their unwillingness to travel to Delhi due to the pandemic. Rujira Banerjee had then urged the ED to allow her to appear before officials in Kolkata. However, later the two had left for Delhi to appear before the department.
‘Will hang myself publicly if found guilty’: claims Abhishek Banerjee before facing ED in coal scam case
On September 5, before leaving for Delhi, the TMC MP had told reporters at the Kolkata airport that he would “hang himself in public” if he is proven guilty.
It may be noted that the ED had accused TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee of being a beneficiary of funds obtained from this illegal trade. However, he has denied all charges.
The case was filed under criminal sections of the (PMLA) by the ED based on the FIR filed by the CBI in November 2020. The FIR had alleged a multi-crore coal pilferage scam related to the Eastern Coalfields Ltd mines in the West Bengal’s Kunustoria and Kajora areas near Asansol.
