The Supreme Court has refused to interfere with the Enforcement Directorate’s act of attaching bank accounts of Indians for Amnesty International Trust, an affiliate of Amnesty International, for alleged money laundering.

The bench of Chief Justice U.U. Lalit and Justice Bela M. Trivedi, however, said the organisation was free to challenge the attachment of its accounts before the appropriate forum.

The trust can now challenge the May 13, 2022, attachment order before the adjudicating authority (a designated senior government official) or the appellate tribunal (headed by a retired judge) constituted under the money-laundering law PMLA.

The bench was dealing with a special leave petition that had challenged a judgment by a two-judge bench of Karnataka High Court that had refused to interfere with the ED’s attachment order.

The apex court said its dismissal of the appellant’s petition “shall not be taken to be a reflection on merits or demerits of rival contentions”.

The ED’s order had attached the trust’s accounts with banks in Karnataka “having balance of Rs 1,54,03,992.30 (about Rs 1.54 crore) along with accrued interest… in terms of Section 5(1) of PMLA, 2002, for a period of 180 days”.

The trust is accused of spending money for purposes other than those for which the money had been received.

Hair style with fire goes wrong

Valsad: An 18-year-old boy suffered severe burn injuries after his “fire haircut” went wrong at a salon in Vapi town of Gujarat’s Valsad district, police said on Thursday.

The “fire haircut”, which has gained popularity of late, is a process in which a hairdresser uses fire on the customer’s hair to set it in style.

A video clip of the Vapi incident, which took place on Wednesday, has been shared widely on social media, showing the fire set on the boy’s hair as part of the process going out of control.

The boy suffered burn injuries on his neck and chest and was taken to a hospital in Vapi, from where he was referred to the Civil Hospital in Valsad, a Vapi town police station officer said. The teen had gone to get the “fire haircut” at a salon in Sulpad, the police said.

Investigating officer Karamsinh Makwana said the statements of the boy and the hairdresser were being taken.

PTI