In a temporary reprieve for noted advocate Anand Grover, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court that it would not insist him to appear before the agency on November 26.
This comes a day after a bench of Justices Sambhaji Shinde and Makarand Karnik asked the central agency to "respect humanity" and avoid calling Grover to the ED office for investigations in a money laundering case.
Having been asked to consider the suggestion, additional solicitor general Anil Singh told the judges that the agency has decided to suspend the summons for the time being till December 14.
"The agency has stated that it would not insist Grover to appear before the authority and will keep its summons in abeyance till December 14," Justice Shinde noted in his orders, while adjourning the case till a later date.
The judges were dealing with a plea filed by Grover and his firm Lawyers' Collective challenging the fresh summons issued to them in a 2019 alleged money laundering case. The advocate is accused of breaching the provisions of Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA).
The plea filed through advocate Rahul Kamerkar termed the fresh summons as a speculative roving and fishing inquiry.
The law firm and its trustees started facing legal problems way back in 2016 after the Union ministry of Home Affairs, cancelled their FCRA registration, citing numerous irregularities.
Subsequently, in June 2019, the CBI registered a case against the firm and also its trustees on corruption charges coupled with FCRA violations. The CBI action was followed with the ED registering a separate case under the stringent prevention of money laundering act (PMLA) and has since been issuing summons to them.
