The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday served notice on Tehreek-e-Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani in a 2002 case and sought his personal appearance here on December 18.
The notice served by an Assistant Director of the ED reads that the matter had been fixed for “personal appearance” of Mr. Geelani at the office of the ED in Srinagar at half past noon on December 18.
“In case of failure to appear, the adjudicating authority may proceed with the adjudication proceedings in Mr. Geelani’s absence under Sub Rule 7 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 2000,” reads the ED notice.
A case under FEMA was registered against 86-year-old Geelani for possession of foreign currency in 2002 after raids were conducted at his residence in Srinagar by the Income Tax department. In 2003, the ED took over the case.
The notice has come at a time when the Government of India special representative, Dineshwar Sharma, is making attempts to engage separatists in a “sustained dialogue” in Kashmir.
Rally on Dec. 15
Without referring to the ED notice, the Joint Resistance Leadership, comprising Mr. Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik, called for a “peaceful public rally” on December 15 in south Kashmir.
“The public rally at Lal Chowk in Anantnag has been called to demonstrate before the whole world what people of Kashmir stand for. The Indian leaders falsely presume to have defeated indigenous Kashmiri resistance by military oppression, NIA and ED terrorism,” said a statement from the group.
