New Delhi
The Delhi High Court has granted permission to Raghav Bahl, the founder of The Quint news platform, and his spouse and co-founder Ritu Kapur, to travel to London and New York for business meetings between September 2 and 9. The court, presided over by Justice Amit Bansal, also suspended the Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against the couple by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with an ongoing money laundering case. Justice Bansal directed Bahl and Kapur to provide an undertaking that they will return to India on or before September 17 and to submit their travel itinerary. This decision was influenced by their previous record of complying with similar travel permissions granted in the past. The ED had opposed their travel applications, expressing concerns that the founders might not return due to their overseas assets and the serious allegations against them. However, given their history of adhering to travel regulations, Justice Bansal decided to allow the applications and suspend the LOC during the specified dates. In January of the same year, Justice Jasmeet Singh had rejected Bahl’s petition seeking to quash the ED proceedings in the money laundering case against him. The court observed that the investigation was still ongoing and that the petition was premature. The court had also refused to quash the Look Out Circular issued against Bahl. The ED had initiated an inquiry based on a chargesheet filed by the Income Tax Department, alleging non-disclosure of funds used for purchasing a property in London by Bahl. The case was filed in 2019 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
