Delhi High Court Refuses To Stay Summons Issued By ED To Mehbooba Mufti

ED Summon To Mehbooba Mufti: The Delhi High Court refused to stay the summons issued by Enforcement Directorate (ED) to Mehbooba Mufti, former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister.

A notice was issued to the agency and Centre in her petition that challenged the summons and Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

Mehbooba Mufti and government counsels were asked to file their legal notes in the case. The division bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh adjourned the hearing of the case to April 16. Mufti was asked by the ED to appear before it in Delhi on March 22.

ED Summon To Mehbooba Mufti:

The ED told the division bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani that it will not insist on Mufti’s appearance before it on March 15 and that fresh summons will be issued for a date after March 19.

In Mufti’s petition that challenged the summons issued to her by the central agency states in an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) that she apprehends that she may be made an accused by the ED. It was also alleged that the state resorted to “a series of hostile acts” against her acquaintances and family friends following her release from preventive detention.

In her petition, Mufti also challenged Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The petition contended that the provision violates the protection against self-incrimination. It also contended that the law needs to be revisited in light of the verdict passed by the Supreme Court last year.

Her counsel Prasanna S mentioned in the petition that “She has not been informed if she is being summoned as an accused or as a witness. She has also not been informed of what she is being summoned in connection with.”

Mufti told the court she has “reasons to believe” she is being arraigned as an accused and that the ED is “weaponised for political positions”.