ED issues fresh summons to TMC's Abhishek Banerjee, wife in coal scam case

The Enforcement Directorate has issued fresh summons 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 on ThursdayBanerjee 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 depose before the investigation officer here next week they saidWhile the MP has been asked to appear on March 21 his wife has been asked to depose the next day The fresh summons has come in the backdrop of the Delhi High Court order dated March 11 where the court dismissed a plea by the couple challenging these notices issued to them on September 10 last yearThe summons issued in September 2021 directed them to appear before the ED in the national capital The couple had sought the high courts intervention saying they should not be asked by the federal agency to appear in Delhi since they were residents of West BengalSolicitor General Tushar Mehta representing the ED during this hearing had opposed the couples plea challenging the summons issued to them saying the jurisdiction of ED probe was iquestnot confined to one area police station or Stateiquest as the offences under the PMLA often have iquestcross border implicationsiquestSenior advocate and Congress leader Kapil Sibal appearing for the Banerjee couple had argued that the investigating agency has failed to show the provision of law granting it specific power to summon the petitioners to the national capitalAdditional Solicitor General S V Raju objected to the petitioners claim that they were residents of Kolkata and stated that there was admittedly a Delhi address as Abhishek Banerjee is a Member of Parliament and must be staying here when the Parliament is in sessionBanerjee the TMC MP from Diamond Harbour has once been questioned by the ED in this case in September last year at an agency office in the national capital Rujira Banerjee was also issued the notice for questioning but she did not appear citing the spread of COVID19The ED lodged a case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLA based on a November 2020 FIR registered by the CBI that alleged a multicrore coal pilferage scam related to Eastern Coalfields Limited mines in the states Kunustoria and Kajora areas in and around AsansolLocal coal operative Anup Majhi alias Lala is alleged to be the prime suspect in the case The ED had claimed that the 34yearold TMC parliamentarian was a beneficiary of funds obtained from this illegal trade He has denied all chargesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever