Money laundering case: Delhi HC allows The Quint's founders to travel abroad

New Delhi, Aug 22 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted permission to Raghav Bahl, founder of The Quint news platform, and his spouse and co-founder Ritu Kapur, to travel to London and New York for business meetings between September 2 to 9.

The court, presided over by Justice Amit Bansal, has also suspended the Look Out Circular (LOC) that was issued against the couple by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with an ongoing money laundering case.

Justice Bansal directed Bahl and Kapur to provide an undertaking stating their commitment to return to India on or before September 17, while also requiring them to submit their travel itinerary.

The court's order was based on their prior record of complying with similar travel permissions granted in the past.

Representing the couple, Advocate Abhimanyu Bhandari said that the applicants had previously adhered to the travel regulations and had returned to India as stipulated.

The ED, however, opposed the applications, citing serious allegations against the founders and expressing concerns that they might not return, given their overseas assets.

Considering the applicants' past history of compliance with travel regulations, Justice Bansal stated: "Accordingly, I deem it appropriate to allow the applications. The LOC is suspended on the said dates."

In January this year, Justice Jasmeet Singh had rejected Bahl's petition seeking quashing ED proceedings in the money laundering case against him and observed that the investigation is not over yet and the petition is premature.

“The allegations are yet to reach the stage of trial. Whether there is generation of proceeds of crime or not is being investigated and for the said reason, the petition as of today is premature and is rejected,” he had said.

The court had also refused to quash the LOC issued against Bahl.

Pertaining to opening of LOC against Bahl, Justice Singh had said that quashing the same will be "premature", granting him liberty to file application with supporting documents on when he wants to travel abroad, which shall be considered in accordance with law.

"The quashing of LOC at this stage will be premature, however, the petitioner has travelled in the past and needs to travel for work. Liberty of the petitioner to travel abroad in genuine case and for business cannot be curtailed," the court had noted.

The ED had inititated an inquiry based on a chargesheet filed by the Income Tax Department for alleged non-disclosure of funds of around Rs 2.45 crore used for buying a property in London by Bahl.

The case was filed in 2019 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.