Hans News Service New Delhi

The Delhi High Court has ruled that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) cannot keep a money-laundering case alive by adding an old FIR to an existing Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) after the predicate offence underpinning the proceedings has been closed.

Justice Anish Dayal termed the ED’s action “illegal and procedurally irregular”, observing that the agency could have registered a fresh ECIR based on the separate FIR if statutory requirements were satisfied.

The court said the ED’s conduct raised “serious concerns” and appeared to be an attempt to preserve the existing ECIR and retain its coercive powers under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), including search, seizure, freezing and attachment of properties.

The ECIR was registered in December 2021 on the basis of a February 2021 Economic Offences Wing FIR arising from a dispute between two factions of the family of late former MP Mahendra Prasad. The allegations involved share transfers and bank transactions allegedly carried out using forged signatures of Prasad’s wife, Satula Devi.

However, the EOW filed a cancellation report in December 2022 after concluding that no offence was made out. The report was subsequently accepted by the trial court.

The ED later added a separate 2019 FIR to the ECIR through an addendum in August 2025. That FIR related to allegations including wrongful confinement, removal of jewellery and offences under the Passports Act.

The High Court noted that the 2019 FIR existed even before the ECIR was registered and remained outside it for nearly six years.

An ECIR depends on the existence of a predicate or scheduled offence, the court said, adding that once the underlying FIR is closed, PMLA proceedings based on it cannot continue unless the closure is overturned by a superior court.