Delhi HC dismisses Mahua Moitra’s ‘leaking information’ plea against ED in FEMA case

In a setback to Mahua Moitra, the Delhi high court on Friday dismissed the Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader’s plea seeking that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) be restrained from ‘leaking’ information in connection to a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) case registered by the agency against her.

The development came a day after the single-judge bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad reserved its order on Moitra’s plea. During Thursday’s hearing, the federal agency had denied giving any press release or ‘leaking’ any information to the media.

On February 15, the ED issued summons to the Trinamool member to appear before it on February 19. However, Moitra, who was expelled from the Lok Sabha in December last year, did not appear, prompting the federal agency to issue a fresh summons.

What is the case?

According to officials familiar with the matter, the Enforcement Directorate has information about ‘certain foreign transactions’– including undisclosed ones – involving her, and has accordingly registered a case and probing her under FEMA.

Moitra is already being probed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as part of a preliminary enquiry (PE) in connection with the alleged cash-for-query case. It is this case which led to her explusion from Lok Sabha, where she represented her state West Bengal’s Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency.