The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) can lawfully arrest an accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) even if certain FIRs are added to the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) at a later stage.
Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya dismissed two petitions filed by the promoter-directors of Ramprastha Promoters & Developers Pvt. Ltd., who had challenged their arrest, remand, and the proceedings initiated by the ED.
Court Rejects Petitioners’ Objection
The petitioners contended that their arrest was illegal because two FIRs were incorporated into the ECIR only subsequently.
Rejecting this argument, the Court held that the mere addition of FIRs to the ECIR at a later stage does not vitiate the ECIR nor does it render the arrest illegal.
Nature of ECIR Under PMLA
Justice Dahiya reiterated that an ECIR is an internal document of the Enforcement Directorate, and there is no statutory requirement under the PMLA that all scheduled offences must be reflected in the ECIR at the very inception of the investigation.
The Court observed that what is material is the existence of a scheduled offence and proceeds of crime, which can emerge during the course of investigation.
Arrest & Remand Held Valid
The High Court found no illegality in the arrest, remand, or continuation of proceedings under the PMLA, holding that the ED acted within the scope of its statutory authority.
Both petitions were accordingly dismissed.
