Centre to seek transfer of Mehbooba Mufti’s plea in PMLA case to Supreme Court

Centre to seek transfer of Mehbooba Mufti’s plea in PMLA case to Supreme Court

SRINAGAR, SEP 14 (PTK): The Center on Tuesday told the Delhi High Court that it will move Mehbooba Mufti’s challenge to the Supreme Court seeking to transfer the constitutional validity of the provision of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

In view of the Centre’s stand, a bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh adjourned the hearing on the petition of the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister till September 30.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said, “Several petitions are pending relating to various provisions and scheme of PMLA. The matter has been referred to a special bench and the parties have exchanged questions, one of which is directly in question here.”

“The Center is going to file a transfer petition before the Supreme Court,” Mehta said. Additional Solicitor General SV Raju said, “There are court precedents which clearly say that when the matter is pending before the Supreme Court, the HC should wash its hands.”

Senior advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan, representing the Mufti, submitted that the petitions before the Supreme Court are not directly related to the challenge to Section 50.

The court had on September 9 listed Mufti’s plea for final disposal on September 14. The Mufti, in her petition filed in March, has sought to declare Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act as invalid and inoperative, unreasonably discriminatory, devoid of safeguards and violative of Article 20(3) of the Constitution.

Section 50 of the Act empowers the officers of the Authority, i.e. ED, to summon any person to give evidence or produce record. All the persons summoned are bound to answer the questions asked to them and produce the required documents by the ED officials, failing which they may be punished under the Act.

The 61-year-old leader, who was released last year after being detained for over a year following the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, was served a notice to appear at the ED headquarters in the national capital.

Initially, the ED had summoned Mufti for March 15, but she did not insist on personal appearance at that time. After this she was summoned on 22 March.

Mufti, in her plea, said that she has received summons from the ED under the provisions of the PMLA, alleging that she has sought ‘evidence’ on pain of sentencing, while she is the subject of investigation for all intents and purposes. (PTK)