The News National Bureau ;
The Supreme Court on Monday (September 9) dismissed the appeals filed by TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee and his wife-Rujira Banerjee challenging the Enforcement Directorate’s summons in relation to a schools jobs scam case.
The duo, which claimed Calcutta to be its ordinary place of residence, challenged the ED summons insofar as they required attendance at New Delhi.
A bench comprising Justices Bela Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma pronounced the verdict. The bench had reserved the judgment on August 13.
The petitioners argued that the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 should apply as regards the summons, since the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 does not specifically provide any procedure in that regard.
Hence, as per 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.
The ED argued that Section 50 PMLA is not pari materia to Section 160 CrPC and the provisions of PMLA are to prevail.
