The Madras High Court has directed the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) to file a counter to the anticipatory bail plea submitted by Ameena Banu and Mohamed Salim, the wife and brother of alleged drug kingpin and expelled DMK functionary Jaffer Sadiq. These pleas are connected to cases under the Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Justice TV Thamilselvi presided over the anticipatory bail petitions filed by Ameena Banu and Mohamed Salim. The petitioners claimed that despite their cooperation with the ED, which included responding to two summonses in the NCB case, they received another summons, which they perceived as harassment.
The ED rejected these allegations, asserting that there was no intention to harass the petitioners. The agency clarified that Jaffer Sadiq had already been arrested in connection with the NCB and PMLA cases, and the summons served to Ameena Banu and Mohamed Salim were solely for the purpose of seeking their cooperation in the ongoing investigation.
The ED requested additional time to file a detailed counter to the petition. Consequently, the bench has postponed further hearings on the matter to July 29.
Jaffer Sadiq, who is also a film producer, was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in March this year. He was accused of smuggling pseudoephedrine to Australia and New Zealand, leading to his detention at Tihar Central Prison in New Delhi.
Following this, the Enforcement Directorate booked Sadiq on June 26 in a money laundering case linked to the narcotics investigation. He was subsequently produced before a principal sessions court in Chennai through a Prisoner Transit warrant issued by the ED.