New Delhi: The trial into the money laundering case, in which members of Popular Front of India are allegedly involved, will be held out in Uttar Pradesh, confirmed the Supreme Court while dismissing a plea seeking transfer of the trial to Kerala.
A bench headed by Justice Rama Subramanyam rejected the petition moved by K A Rouf Sheriff, who is the first accused in the case. Journalist Siddique Kappan is also named as an accused in the case.
In the petition, Rouf pointed out that the case was registered in Kerala and most of the witnesses were from the southern state. He also requested the apex court to restrict the move to link the case with Hathras gang rape and murder in 2020.
Rouf, the national general secretary of Campus Front of India - the student organization of PFI - was arrested by Enforcement Directorate on December 14, 2020, for allegedly funding the trip of PFI members along with journalist Siddique Kappan to Hathras.
As per the chargesheet filed by the ED in the special PMLA court in Lucknow, Rouf conspired with PFI members in UAE to transfer the money raised by PFI to the bank accounts of their people in the guise of business transactions.
Siddique Kappan was arrested on October 6, 2020, when he was heading to cover up the brutal rape and murder of a Dalit girl in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras.
