The Delhi High Court on Friday sought a response from the Enforcement Directorate upon a plea by journalist Rana Ayyub challenging the Look Out Circular issued against her restraining her from travelling abroad.
Justice Chandra Dhari Singh was dealing with the plea challenging the ED’s decision not to allow her to leave the country from the airport while on her way to London for prior work commitments.
The Court, while refusing to grant interim relief by permitting her to travel abroad for attending conferences and events she was slated to speak at, directed the agency to file its status report.
The matter will be taken up on April 4 at 2:30 pm.
Ayyub knocked the doors of the Delhi High Court being aggrieved by her being detained at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai, on March 29, 2022, while she was to board a flight to London to attend an event on the global problem of cyber attacks on women journalists being organised by the International Center for Journalists (ICJ). She was stopped in connection with an alleged money laundering case which is being probed by the ED.
The plea stated that Ayyub was detained in a room adjacent to the immigration counter, and was informed that the immigration officers of the Ministry of Home Affairs were seeking clarifications regarding some “remark” on her file. However, subsequently, she was informed that the MHA officers have been instructed by the ED to not to allow her to board the flight to London and that the immigration stamp on her passport was stamped as “Cancelled”.
The plea further stated that almost two hours after being detained, Ayyub received summons issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, by the ED directing her to appear before it on April 1, 2022.
In the light of the above, the plea sought a direction to enable her to travel abroad as well as to quash any Look Out Circular issued against her.