ED mulls shifting money-laundering cases out of Bengal

Kolkata, Sep 7 (IANS) The shifting of all hearings pertaining to Trinamool Congress strongman Anubrata Mondal’s alleged involvement in the multi- crore cattle smuggling case from a CBI special court in West Bengal's Asansol to Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court has given rise to speculation that similar matters may also be moved out of the state.

The  case was transferred on Wednesday, and is being seen as an instance that may set a precedent for shifting similar matters in all the money-laundering cases to any other court outside West Bengal.

That is the option which a section of Enforcement Directorate (ED) is mulling, although the thinking on these lines are at a nascent stage, sources said.

Agency insiders admit that although the shifting of all the hearings in all the money-laundering cases that are pending at different lower courts in West Bengal is the ideal proposition for the sake of smooth investigation, that shifting will not be an easy and overnight process.

Even shifting the hearing related to Mondal from the special CBI court at Asansol in West Burdwan district of West Bengal to Rouse Avenue Court in New Delhi was not that easy task. Two past moves by the central agency on this count were rejected by the judge of the special court of Asansol. Finally on Wednesday, the plea regarding shifting of future hearings in the matter was approved by same judge after the ED counsel argued, citing provisions of a notification of the Union finance ministry issued in 2005 that provides the scope for such shifting based on the merits of the case or cases concerned, said a legal associate of the agency.

In fact, senior counsel of the Calcutta High Court, Kaushik Gupta also said that the instance of Anubrata Mondal can be used as a precedent for shifting similar matters in all the money- laundering cases in West Bengal to any other court outside the state.

“But while using this case precedent, the central agency will have to establish through arguments that the offence committed by the accused persons in other cases of money- laundering in West Bengal, are at equal footing to that of Anubrata Mondal. The ‘influential’ factor has to be established,” Gupta said.