PMLA | ECIR Is Internal Administrative Document Of ED, Can't Be Quashed By Inherent Power U/S 482 CrPC: Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has made it clear that Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) lodged by Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) cannot be quashed by the High Court by exercising its inherent power under Section 482 CrPC.

 Justice Manjari Nehru Kaul said, "...the ECIR is an internal administrative document of the ED. Consequently, in the considered opinion of this Court, since the ECIR precedes the stage of criminal prosecution and proceedings, it thus falls outside the purview of the inherent jurisdiction conferred upon this Court by Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. Therefore, the prayer of the petitioner for quashing of the ECIR under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. cannot be entertained."

The Court was hearing a plea seeking quashing of ECIR for being allegedly illegal and abuse of process of law in view of the judgment passed by the Supreme Court in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary and others v. Union of India and others [2022 LiveLaw (SC) 633] and Parvathi Kollur and another v. State by Directorate of Enforcement, [2022 LiveLaw (SC) 688], since the petitioner has already been discharged in the predicate offences.

After hearing the submissions, the Court considered the question, "whether the ECIR can be quashed in the exercise of its inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 CrPC."

Reliance was placed upon Vijay Madanlal Chaudhary's case, wherein it was held that, ".....Suffice it to observe that ECIR cannot be equated with an FIR which is mandatorily required to be recorded and supplied to the accused as per the provisions of 1973 Code. Revealing a copy of an ECIR, if made mandatory, may defeat the purpose sought to be achieved by the 2002 Act including frustrating the attachment of property (proceeds of crime)."

The Court noted that, ECIR is not registered under the Cr.P.C., unlike a First Information Report, which is mandatorily registered under Section 154 of the Cr.P.C. It also noted there exists no legal obligation to provide a copy of the ECIR to an accused.

It thus concluded that an ECIR is an administrative document prepared by the officers of the ED and falls outside the purview of the inherent jurisdiction conferred upon this Court by Section 482 of the CrPC.

It rejected the argument put forth by senior counsel appearing for the petitioner that mere technicalities should not come in the way of entertaining the instant petition under Section 482 CrPC keeping in view the amplitude of the powers conferred upon the High Court.

"It cannot be over-emphasized that the powers of this Court are not unbridled and can be exercised under Section 482 Cr.P.C. only to give effect to any order under the Cr.P.C.; or to prevent abuse of the process of any Court; or to secure the ends of justice in relation to a criminal proceeding," said the Court.

Adding that since the ECIR is not a statutory document under the CrPC and thus, cannot be equated to initiation of any criminal proceeding, the Court said quashing it under the inherent power would be exceeding jurisdiction of the Court under Section 482 CrPC.

In the light of the above, the petition was dismissed.

Bipan Ghai, Senior Advocate with Nikhil Ghai, Advocate for the petitioner.

Arvind Moudgil, Senior Counsel, Government of India with Sahil Rangra and Naveen Kumar, Advocates for the respondent.

 Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (PH) 113

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