Supreme Court Dismisses Author Rana Ayyub's Plea in Money Laundering Case

Last year, the ED lodged a case against Ayyub under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

Journalist Rana Ayyub

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook/ Rana Ayyub)

The Supreme Court did not provide relief to journalist and author Rana Ayyub pertaining to a money laundering case on Tuesday, 7 February.

Bare essentials: Ayyub had moved the apex court over a summons issued by a special court in Ghaziabad, according to a report by Live Law.

• The Ghaziabad court is hearing a case lodged against Ayyub by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

• Ayyub's plea was heard by a Supreme Court division bench comprising Justices V Ramasubramanian and J B Pardiwala

In the courtroom: Ayyub had challenged the Ghaziabad court's summons on the grounds of the lack of jurisdiction.

• "The petitioner has never been arrested. Now, she is being dragged to a state where her safety would be most in jeopardy. Can her personal liberty be deprived in a procedure not authorised by law?" Ayyub's lawyer and senior advocate Vrinda Grover had argued.

Yes, but: This line of argument was apparently not enough as the Supreme Court, instead, left it open for the matter to be raised in the trial court.

"Under Section 3 of PMLA, place where any of six activities or processes are carried out - concealment, possession, acquisition, use, projecting as unainted property, claiming as untainted property, the offence of money laundering is said to have taken place. Navi Mumbai, where the bank account is located, is the destination where the proceeds of crime have reached, if at all. The question as to whether any one or more of the six activities have taken place question of fact which has to be decided based on evidence."

Supreme Court Justice Ramasubramanian