‘Baseless, Unwarranted’: India Rejects UN’s Allegations Of Journalist Rana Ayyub Facing ‘Judicial Harassment’

After the United Nations’ Geneva mission alleged “judicial harassment” of Rana Ayyub, India stated that advancing a “misleading narrative” only “tarnishes” the mission’s reputation.

Photo: Twitter/@UNGeneva

New Delhi: India on Monday reacted strongly to the allegations put up by the United Nations’ Geneva mission wherein it said that journalist Rana Ayyub is facing “judicial harassment”.

India has dubbed the accusation as “baseless and unwarranted”, asserting that the country upholds the rule of law and no one is above it.

In a tweet, India’s permanent mission in Geneva stated that advancing a “misleading narrative” only “tarnishes” the reputation of the UN mission.

“Allegations of so-called judicial harassment are baseless & unwarranted. India upholds the rule of law but is equally clear that no one is above the law. We expect SRs to be objective & accurately informed. Advancing a misleading narrative only tarnishes @UNGeneva’s reputation,” the tweet read.

According to Delhi-based official sources cited by news agency PTI, the matter will be followed up by a note verbale from the Indian mission in Geneva.

“They will also take it up with the UN office in Geneva,” a source told PTI.

Rana Ayyub “Subjected To Legal Harassment” By Indian Authorities: UN Experts

Earlier, the UN Geneva tweeted about “relentless misogynistic and sectarian attacks online” against Rana Ayyub. It called for a prompt and thorough investigation by the Indian authorities in the matter, adding that the “judicial harassment against her brought to an end.” 

In a detailed statement, the UN experts opined that the journalist has been “subjected to legal harassment by the Indian authorities in relation to her reporting for a number of years”.

Earlier this month, the Enforcement Directorate had attached over Rs 1.77 crore worth of bank deposits of Rana Ayyub in connection with a money-laundering investigation against her.

About this matter, UN experts said: “On 11 February, for the second time in six months, Ms. Ayyub’s bank account and other assets were frozen in response to seemingly baseless allegations of money laundering and tax fraud, related to her crowd-funding campaigns to provide assistance to those affected by the pandemic.”

According to them, “As with many of the spurious and defamatory accusations made against Ms. Ayyub in retaliation for her reporting, the false allegations can be traced back to a far-right social media group.”

Money-Laundering Case Against Rana Ayyub

The money-laundering case against Rana Ayyub was filed by the ED after taking cognisance of a September 2021 FIR of the Ghaziabad police in Uttar Pradesh related to alleged irregularities in donor funds of over Rs 2.69 crore raised by her through “Ketto”.

Police lodged the case on a complaint from Vikas Sankrityayan, a resident of Indirapuram in Ghaziabad. He is the founder of an NGO called “Hindu IT Cell”, PTI reported.

In a statement, ED said its probe “makes it abundantly clear that the funds were raised in the name of charity in a completely pre-planned and systematic manner, and the funds were not utilised completely for the purpose of which the funds were raised.”

In response to this, Rana Ayyub claimed that she has “demonstrably shown" to the ED and Income-Tax department authorities that “no part of the relief campaign money has been used for any other purpose” or for her personal expenses.  She termed the allegations a “deliberate misreading” of her bank statements.

(With Agency Inputs)