Renowned Indian journalist Rana Ayyub has moved the Delhi High Court seeking permission to travel abroad.
Rana Ayyub’s counsel appealed for an urgent hearing in the matter before the bench headed by acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and also compris-ing Justice Navin Chawla, as his client has to travel abroad.
Rana Ayyub said that the ED summoned her de-spite the fact that she had made her programme public in advance. She maintained that the ED’s summon arrived in her inbox after she was stopped.
She was prevented by the authorities at Mumbai airport from travelling abroad on Tuesday as India’s Enforcement Directorate had issued a lookout notice for her. She was scheduled to speak about intimida-tion of journalists and rights activists in India at several international events in Europe.
Rana Ayyub is facing a Prevention of Money Laundering case for allegedly misusing funds col-lected for charity through the website ketto.com. The ED in February attached her assets worth Rs 1.77 crore claiming that the money traced to the proceeds of crime.
On the other hand, world press freedom watch-dogs including International Center for Journalists and International Press Institute have condemned the Narendra Modi-led fascist Indian government for stopping the award winning journalist from flying to Europe.—AP
