New Delhi, July 28 (Agency) Supreme Court today on Friday directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to withdraw the Look-Out-Circular (LOC) issued against TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee and his wife Rujira Banerjee in connection with the money laundering cases against them linked to an alleged coal scam in West Bengal. The Court directed Abhishek and his wife that they will have to seek permission of the ED before going abroad. A bench of the Apex Fourt, headed by Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and also comprising Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, passed the order after hearing a plea by the couple to travel abroad. The Top Court ordered that Abhishek Banerjee and Rujira Banerjee can travel abroad after informing ED a week in advance, as it was apprised by the ED that LoC against the couple stands withdrawn.
The Apex Court had asked the ED on Monday to apprise it about whether a Look Out Circular (LOC) has been issued against TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee and his wife Rujira Banerjee in connection with the money laundering cases linked to an alleged coal scam in West Bengal. Rujira was allegedly stopped from boarding a UAE-bound flight on June 5 citing a lookout notice by the Enforcement Directorate that asked her to appear before the agency. The ED lodged a case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 based on a November 2020 FIR registered by the CBI that alleged a multi-crore rupees coal pilferage scam related to the Eastern Coalfields Limited mines in the state’s Kunustoria and Kajora areas in and around Asansol.