Supreme Court orders UP court to defer hearing in Rana Ayyub PMLA case till January 31

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered a special court in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad to defer the hearing in the money laundering case against journalist Rana Ayyub to any day after January 31 [Rana Ayyub vs Enforcement Directorate]..A bench of Justices Krishna Murari and V Ramasubramanian passed the order in light of the fact that it will hear Ayyub's plea on January 31 against the summons issued by the Ghaziabad court. "We will hear the case on January 31. In the meantime Ghaziabad Special Court Anti corruption 1 is requested to adjourn the hearing fixed for January 27 to a date after January 31. This order is being passed because hearing cannot be concluded (by Supreme Court) due to paucity of time and not on merits," the apex court ordered. .Ayyub has been summoned by a trial court in Ghaziabad in relation to a prosecution complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).Ayyub moved the apex court contending that the UP court does not have jurisdiction to hear the matter since the complaint arose in Mumbai and the Delhi Zonal Office of ED was investigating the matter. The bench today said that it has to rise early and will not have time to hear the matter on merits..Background.On November 29, Special Judge Vatsal Srivastava had held that on going through the entire record, there was sufficient evidence of a prima facie case for taking cognisance against her.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..Arguments today.Senior Advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for Ayyub, submitted that she was being dragged to Uttar Pradesh though the case does not have any connection to the State."Though no chargesheet or arrest against me.. Hindu IT Cell tweet says send her to 7 days Ahaziabad court custody 'aur hum dekh lenge'. Investigation is by Delhi zonal office, then complain Bombay.. how is UP coming into the picture," Grover asked.The apex court queried why Ayyub has come to Supreme Court instead of approaching the Allahabad High Court."The jurisdictional High Court can look into this. Is the High Court powerless to do it," the bench asked."Give me at least 4 weeks protection since Allahabad High Court will take that much time to hear it," Grover replied.."Crowdfunding is a new device by money is being collected in guise of money for the down trodden etc," Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta submitted on behalf of ED."But can I be dragged to court for this," said Grover."Yes yes you can be. Every citizen is equal in eyes of law. File anticipatory bail application. All citizens are equal.. " the SG said."Not in UP," Grover said.The Court said that it will hear the matter in detail on Monday and directed the UP court to defer hearing until then. .In April 2022, the High Court had allowed Ayyub to travel abroad after the ED prevented her from leaving the country by issuing a Look Out Circular (LOC) in relation to this case.In August that 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..[Read order]