Two days after being stopped at airport, journalist Ayyub moves HC against ED lookout circular

Justice Sanghi said the matter will ordinarily be listed for Friday in case it is filed before noon. Later, the case was cleared for hearing on Friday before Justice Chandra Dhari Singh.

In the petition, Ayyub has said that almost two hours after she was detained at Mumbai airport, the ED emailed summons to her, directing her to remain present before it on April 1. The information sought in the summons is a “verbatim copy” of the information already sought in the summons dated January 25 and is a “sham exercise” to justify the arbitrary action of denying her the right to travel, the petition argues.

Ayyub stated that she was scheduled to speak at a journalism-related event in London, and then fly to Italy regarding gender-based online violence faced by women journalists globally. She was scheduled to return to India on April 11, as per the plea.

Challenging the lookout circular, Ayyub has contended that she has responded to each summons issued by ED, joined investigation, and provided necessary documents. The ED has already filed a PMLA complaint against Ayyub and provisionally attached a part of her bank account.

“The petitioner being a journalist, who speaks truth to power, is at times perceived to be a source of some discomfort or inconvenience for the government. But that is no ground to deny the petitioner her right to travel abroad and exercise her freedom of speech and expression, as well as to practice her profession as a journalist,” Ayyub argued in the petition.

The ED had registered a case against Ayyub in connection with funds collected by her through the Ketto platform to help people during the Covid-19 pandemic. The case accuses her of not utilising the funds completely for the purpose they were raised.