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The Supreme Court on Friday tagged the plea filed by Sunil Kumar Meena, Assistant Director, Enforcement of Directorate seeking transfer of petition pending before Delhi High Court, filed by former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti against provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).

A bench of Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice Dinesh Maheshwari tagged the plea with other pending matters challenging provisions of PMLA after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared in the matter.

The said plea by Mehbooba Mufti challenged Section 50 of the PMLA Act, which gives powers to authorities regarding summons, production of documents, and to give evidence; and sought a stay on the summon issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Earlier, before the High Court Mehta, representing the Center had sought an adjournment stating that a transfer petition is being moved to the Supreme Court.

The plea claimed that ever since Mufti was released from preventive detention following the formal abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, there have been a series of hostile acts by the state, against her, her acquaintances and old family friends, who have all been summoned by the ED and a roving inquiry about her personal, political and financial affairs was made, in the course of which their personal devices have been seized.

"The provision needs to be revisited in light of a verdict passed by Supreme Court last year," she has said. She has further stated that Section 50 of PMLA empowers ED officers to summon any person to give evidence or produce records, and all those summoned are bound to answer questions put to them, and to produce the documents.

Further, she stated that that she has not been informed if she is being summoned as an accused or as a witness and that she has also not been informed of what she is being summoned in connection with, and the scheduled offence under the PMLA which gave rise to the proceedings in respect of which summons has been issued to her.

Cause Title: Mehbooba Mufti vs Union Of India & Anr.