Challenging the summons issued by the ED in a money laundering case, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that there was no procedure prescribed in Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to summon an accused.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Banerjee, submitted that there has to be a procedure established by law to summon an accused.
"In PMLA there is no procedure, so lack of procedure becomes a procedure. There is no procedure for summoning a witness or an accused in a PMLA. The government will have to demonstrate that there is a procedure that we are following that is established by law and is reasonable," Sibal told a bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma.
Sibal said the question which arises for consideration of this court is whether the Enforcement Directorate (ED) can assume a pan-India jurisdiction and summon any person at any place of their choice, under the purported garb of Section 50 of the PMLA, in utter derogation of the fundamental rights of the person.
He said these are issues which should issued by a larger bench of five judges.
The hearing remained inconclusive and will continue tomorrow.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Banerjee and his wife Rujira Banerjee have challenged a Delhi High court order that had refused to quash summons issued by the ED against them in connection with a money laundering probe linked to an alleged coal scam in West Bengal.
They have challenged the September 10, 2021, summons issued by the ED on the grounds that they should not be required to appear in New Delhi but in their home town in Kolkata.
The 36-year-old MP represents the Diamond Harbour seat in Lok Sabha and is the national general secretary of the TMC.
The ED lodged a case under the provisions of the PMLA on the basis of a November 2020 FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that alleged a multi-crore coal pilferage scam related to Eastern Coalfields Ltd mines in the state's Kunustoria and Kajora areas in and around Asansol.
Local coal operative Anup Majhi is alleged to be the prime suspect in the case.
The ED had claimed that the TMC MP was a beneficiary of funds obtained from this illegal trade. He has denied all charges.
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