BREAKING: Rana Ayyub moves Supreme Court against summons by Ghaziabad court in PMLA case

Journalist Rana Ayyub has moved the Supreme Court against an order of a Ghaziabad court which summoned her in relation to a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case initiated against her by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). .The case was mentioned before a Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud by Advocate Vrinda Grover, who sought urgent hearing. The CJI agreed to hear the case on January 23..Ayyub was summoned by a trial court in Ghaziabad in relation to a prosecution complaint filed by the ED on October 12, 2022. On November 29, Special Judge Vatsal Srivastava held that on going through the entire record, there was sufficient evidence of a prima facie case for taking cognizance against her. "Accused be summoned for 13.12.2022. Summon be issued," the court had thus ordered. .The ED had initiated a money laundering investigation on the basis of a First Information Report (FIR) registered in September 2021 by the Indirapuram Police Station in Ghaziabad under provisions of the Indian Penal Code, Information Technology Amendment Act and Black Money Act against Ayyub.The FIR alleged that she illegally acquired funds from the general public in the name of charity by launching fundraiser campaigns on online crowd funding platform Ketto. It was also alleged that Ayyub received foreign contributions without registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA)..According to the ED, investigation revealed that Ayyub launched three fundraiser campaigns and collected funds totalling ₹2.69 crore. These included:1. Raising funds for slum-dwellers & farmers; 2. Funds for relief work for Assam, Bihar and Maharashtra; 3. Funds to help those impacted by COVID-19 in India..The ED stated that the funds raised were received in her father and sister's accounts, and were subsequently transferred to her personal accounts. Further, she allegedly utilised these funds to create a fixed deposit of ₹50 lakh for herself and transferred another ₹50 lakh to a new bank account..The investigation was also stated to have revealed that only about ₹29 lakh was used for relief work. Subsequently, a bank balance of ₹1.7 crore was attached by the agency on February 4, 2022."Investigation by ED further revealed that Ms. Rana Ayyub illegally raised Rs. 2.69 Crore by launching three online campaigns in the name of charity by cheating the general public donors. These funds were not used for the intended purpose, instead used for creation of assets for herself," an ED press release stated. .In August last year, the Delhi High Court had restrained the ED from taking any further steps against Ayyub under Section 8 of the PMLA in relation to these properties attached by the investigating agency. In April, the High Court had also allowed her to travel abroad after the ED prevented her from leaving the country by issuing a Look Out Circular (LOC) in relation to this case.