A special court in Mumbai on Wednesday ordered controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, accused of laundering money to the tune of Rs 193 crore, to personally appear before it on July 31. The court deals with cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
The PMLA court warned that if Naik fails to appear before it by July 31, a non-bailable warrant will be issued against him.
PMLA court judge Prashant P. Rajvaidya gave the order on Naik after taking cognisance of the supplementary charge-sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against one of the accused in the case, Abul Sathak.
Naik himself is absconding and is in Malaysia.
Naik was booked by the ED in 2016 based on a National Investigation Agency (NIA) FIR that was registered under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
In an exclusive interview with THE WEEK in May, Naik, who is in Malaysia, claimed he would not return to India if the BJP was in power.
