SRINAGAR, July 6:
Hours after the PDP announced its decision to stay away from the proceedings of the Delimitation Commission, the Enforcement Directorate today served a notice on the mother of its president Mehbooba Mufti asking her appear at the agency’s office here on July 14 in connection with a money laundering case.
According to the notice, posted by Mehbooba on her official Twitter account, her mother Gulshan Nazir has been asked to appear before the Central probe agency at its office in Srinagar.
The criminal case filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) is linked to the recovery of at least two diaries by the ED after raids on an alleged associate of Mehbooba, a former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister.
The diaries contain details of some purported payments made from the chief Minister’s discretionary fund in alleged contravention of rules, officials said.
These funds are alleged to have been diverted during the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) rule in the erstwhile State.
A few lakh rupees from these funds are alleged to have been transferred into the accounts of Nazir and some others, and the ED wants to question her about it, the officials said.
Nazir is the wife of the late Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
Mehbooba was questioned by the ED in March this year in connection with a separate money laundering case.
The Jammu and Kashmir CID had earlier filed adverse reports against Mehbooba and her mother in response to their passport renewal applications.
Mehbooba, 62, expressed surprise that the notice was served on her mother on the day her PDP decided not to meet the Delimitation Commission, set up to redraw Assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir.
On the summon, Mehbooba said, “ED sent a summon to my mother to appear in person for unknown charges. In its attempts to intimidate political opponents, GoI (Government of India) doesn’t even spare senior citizens. Agencies like NIA (National Investigation Agency) and ED are now its tools to settle scores.”
The notice came hours after her party decided not to meet the Delimitation Commission, saying the body lacks “Constitutional and legal mandate” and is part of the overall process of political disempowerment of people of Jammu and Kashmir. (PTI)
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