Delhi High Court Dismisses Supertech Chairman RK Arora’s Plea Challenging Arrest By ED In Money Laundering Case

The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a petition moved by Supertech Chairman Ram Kishor Arora challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.

Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma said that no fundamental rights of Arora were violated and that there was nothing on record to suggest that he was denied right to consult or be defended by a legal practitioner.

“The petitioner here failed to show that the arrest of the petitioner is in violation of Section 19 of the PMLA,” the court said.

It was Kapoor’s case that he was arbitrarily and illegally arrested on June 27 by ED and was not informed or served the grounds of his arrest. He also claimed that ED violated his fundamental right under Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India, as he was denied the right to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of his choice.

On the other hand, ED opposed the plea and said that Kapoor’s arrest was in full compliance of Section 19 of PMLA. ED also claimed that the grounds of arrest were mentioned in the remand application moved before the court when Kapoor was produced within 24 hours of his arrest.

Dismissing the plea, the court observed that the grounds of arrest were duly given and notified to Kapoor and that he endorsed the same in writing under his signature.

“The core issue is of being “informed” and “as soon as”. It if has been duly notified and brought to the notice at the time of arrest and further disclosed in detail in the remand application, it amounts be be duly informed and served,” the court said.

It added: “In view of the discussion made herein above there is nothing on record to suggest that reason to believe “as required under Section 19(1) of the PMLA was not recorded in writing and, therefore, it cannot be held that petitioner was arrested illegally.”

Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, along with Advocates R.K.Handoo, Yoginder Handoo, Siddharth Bhatti, Aditya Chaudhary, Ashwin Kataria, Garvit Solank, Bhupendra Premi and Yatin Dev appeared for the petitioner.

Special Counsel Zoheb Hossain appeared for ED, along with Advocates Vivek Gurnani, Baibhav and Mohit Godara.

Case Title: RAM KISHOR ARORA v. DIRECTOR, DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT & ANR.

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Del) 879

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