NBW Issued Against Preacher Zakir Naik

A non-bailable warrant was issued against Zakir Naik on Thursday by a special court designated under Section 59(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002.

The order, which was reserved on Wednesday after Enforcement Directorate’s counsel Hiten Venegavkar made his submissions, was pronounced a day later by Special Judge PR Bhavke.

A reply was also filed on behalf of Naik by his lawyer Tarak Sayyed.

In the reply, it is stated that Naik is an NRI who spends most of his time outside India.

Hence summonses that have been served to Naik’s attorney and his brother are not in accordance with the law.

Also, Naik had written letters to the ED expressing his willingness to co-operate in the investigation by providing all relevant documents to assist in the probe and was willing to be questioned via Skype, however, there was no communication from the ED regarding the same.

Meanwhile, Venegavkar had informed the court that four summonses were served to Naik through his brother and attorney so far.

The ED, in its application, stated that “huge amounts of unaccounted for cash transactions without leaving any trail of its origin or utilisation were conducted by Zakir Naik”.

The National Investigation Agency registered an FIR against Naik and others from the IRF, a day after the Government of India declared IRF an unlawful association on November 17, 2016.

The FIR stated that Naik was indulging in unlawful activities by “making several provocative and inflammatory speeches which inspired and incited a number of youths in India to commit unlawful activities and terrorist acts”.

The NIA is currently investigating charges under Section 153 A of IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, language etc.) and Sections 10, 13, 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, against Zakir Naik and his associates.