Karnataka High Court stays money laundering case against Amnesty India, Aakar Patel

The Karnataka High Court on Monday stayed a money laundering case against the now-defunct human rights organisation Amnesty International India and its former executive director Aakar Patel, reported Bar and Bench.

Justice Hemant Chandangoudar noted that another bench of the court had extended similar interim relief to former Amnesty International India chief executive officer, G Ananthapadmanabhan.

The case dates back to 2022, when the Enforcement Directorate accused the organisation of laundering Rs 51.72 crore. The agency had initiated the case based on a complaint by the Central Bureau of Investigation filed in 2019.

On Monday, the High Court issued a notice to the Enforcement Directorate on the petition filed by the organisation, Patel and Ananthapadmanabhan, seeking that the case against them be quashed, Hindustan Times reported.

The trial in the 2022 case is pending before a Bengaluru court.

The central agency has alleged that the Amnesty International-United Kingdom was remitting funds from abroad through its Indian entities – by taking the foreign direct investment route – to evade the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.

Remitting involves sending money in payment or as gifts.

These funds were allegedly received to expand the organisation’s activities in India despite the home ministry denying permission to the body and the Amnesty India Foundation Trust to register under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.

The Enforcement Directorate claimed that Amnesty International India has...

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