Rujira Banerjee moves SC against ED for obstructing for her overseas visit

Kolkata, July 6 Rujira Narula Banerjee, wife of Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, on Thursday moved the Supreme Court accusing Enforcement Directorate (ED) of deliberately and unnecessarily creating hurdles for her overseas visit.

Sources said that the matter is likely to come up for hearing at the apex court next week.

It is learnt that in the petition she had argued that despite the investigation in the coal case in West Bengal being on for some time, never before the central agency had objected to her overseas trip.

However, on June 5, she was stopped by the immigration department at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata before boarding a Dubai- bound flight.

She was informed by the immigration department that she was stopped following a “lookout notice” issued against her by ED.

On the same day, she was served a notice by ED to appear at the central agency’s office for questioning in connection with the coal case in West Bengal.

Finally, on June 8, she appeared at ED’s Salt Lake office in the northern outskirts of Kolkata and faced questioning for about four hours.

At that point of time only, Trinamool Congress leadership had described the event of her being stopped at the airport as an action motivated by political vendetta on part of the Union government and BJP.

Describing the development as an inhuman act on part of ED, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that she was going abroad to meet her ailing mother.

“The Supreme Court has not imposed any restrictions on her foreign tours. The apex court only asked her to inform the ED once before going out of the country. And she had informed the ED well in advance about her scheduled tour.

"The ED officials at that point of time only could have asked her not to travel abroad. But instead of doing that, she was stopped from boarding the flight this morning and also issued the notice on the same day. This is an inhuman act," the chief minister had said.

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