Supreme Court grants interim protection to Raghav Bahl, Quint founder, in money laundering case

Supreme Court grants interim protection to Raghav Bahl, Quint founder, in money laundering case

A Bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justices AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli issued notice to the ED. The matter has directed that there will be no forced action taken against Bahl till the next date of hearing.

The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday granted interim protection to media entrepreneur Raghav Bahl in a money laundering cases. It was instigated against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) [Raghav Bahl v. Enforcement Directorate].

A Bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justices AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli issued notice to the ED in the matter while directing that no coercive action be taken against Bahl till the next date of hearing.

The order said, "Issue notice. Till the next date of hearing, no coercive steps shall be taken against the petitioner."

The plea by Bahl was a request against a Delhi High Court order which had refused to grant any interim relief to Bahl while issuing notice to ED.

The ED case rose from action initiated by the Income Tax (IT) department regarding non-disclosure of funds used for purchase of assets in London.

The IT department had alleged irregularities in the income tax returns filed for the year 2018-19. Based on this, it had initiated action against Bahl under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act of 2015.

Under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), this had led to money laundering case against Bahl by the ED. However, it is Bahl's case that he had made re-filing and was cleared by the IT department. Hence, the PMLA case cannot be permitted to continue.

Hence he had moved the High Court for defeating the case. The High Court refused interim relief instigating the present appeal before the top court.

Bahl was represented by Senior Counsel Vikas Singh and advocates Amarjit Singh Bedi, Deepika and Riya Seth.