Key Takeaways
- The Supreme Court has ordered Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee and his wife Rujira to face ED grilling in Delhi over the Bengal school jobs scam.
- The ED has summoned Abhishek Banerjee and Rujira for questioning in connection with the alleged scam.
- The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by Abhishek Banerjee and his wife Rujira, upholding the ED summons.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed an appeal filed by Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee and his wife-Rujira challenging the Enforcement Directorate’s summons sent to them for questioning in New Delhi over the alleged school jobs scam in West Bengal.
The petitioners, from Kolkata, were asked to appear before the ED in New Delhi. They challenged the summons, arguing that they should be questioned in Kolkata, not Delhi.
A bench comprising Justice Bela Trivedi and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma dismissed the appeal and asked the couple to appear before the ED as per their requirement.
The bench had on August 13 reserved its decision on the matter after hearing both the sides.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal argued on behalf of Abhishek Banerjee, and Senior Advocates Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi appeared for Rujira Banerjee.
Sibal argued that since the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 did not specifically provide any procedure in that regard, the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 should apply as regards the summons.
They can be asked to appear only in Kolkata (where the offence is alleged to have taken place) and not in New Delhi, Sibal said.
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju and Advocate Zoheb Hossain, appearing on behalf of the ED, argued that Section 50 of PMLA is not pari materia (placed on similar level) to Section 160 CrPC and the provisions of PMLA shall prevail in this matter.
