Banerjee, nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), and his wife Rujira Banerjee have been asked to drop off the investigating officer here next week, they said.
The Enforcement Directorate has issued a new subpoena to TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee and his wife for questioning in a money laundering case linked to an alleged coal scam in West Bengal, officials said Thursday. Banerjee, nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), and his wife Rujira Banerjee have been asked to drop off the investigating officer here next week, they said. While the MP has been asked to appear on March 21, his wife has been asked to drop off the following day.
The new subpoena came in the background of the Delhi High Court order of March 11, in which the court rejected a plea by the couple challenging these notices issued to them on September 10 last year. The summons issued in September 2021 ordered them to appear before the ED in the capital.
The couple had requested the intervention of the Supreme Court and said they should not be asked by the federal agency to appear in Delhi because they were residents of West Bengal.
Attorney General Tushar Mehta, who represented the ED at this hearing, had opposed the couple’s plea against the subpoena issued to them, saying that the jurisdiction of ED investigations was not limited to one area, police station or stands? as the offenses under the PMLA often have “cross-border implications”. Lead attorney and congressional leader Kapil Sibal, who appeared before the Banerjee couple, had argued that the investigative agency has failed to demonstrate the legal provision that grants it the specific power to subpoena petitioners to the national capital.
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju objected to the petitioners’ claim that they were residents of Kolkata, stating that although there was an address in Delhi, as Abhishek Banerjee is a Member of Parliament and must reside here when the Parliament is in session. Banerjee, the TMC MP from Diamond Harbor, was questioned by the ED on this matter once last September at an agency office in the national capital. Rujira Banerjee was also notified for questioning, but she did not appear citing the spread of COVID-19.
The ED has filed a case under the provisions of the Money Laundering Prevention Act (PMLA) based on a November 2020 CBI-registered FIR alleging that coal was stolen in various ways in connection with the mines of Eastern Coalfields Limited in the Kunustoria and Kajora areas of the state. in and around Asansol. Local coal farmer Anup Majhi alias Lala is said to be the prime suspect in the case. The ED had alleged that the 34-year-old TMC MP was a beneficiary of funds obtained from this illegal trade. He has denied all allegations.
This post Bangladeshi coal scam case: ED issues new subpoena to Abhishek Banerjee and wife of TMC for questioning
was original published at “https://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/bengal-coal-scam-case-ed-issues-fresh-summons-to-tmcs-abhishek-banerjee-and-wife-for-questioning/2464010/”
