Quashing of ED case against ex-IPS officer: HC rehearing on August 28

PMLA cases cannot be allowed to be washed away, court says, seeks agency's clarification

- R SIVAKUMAR

QUESTIONING the Enforcement Directorate on certain money laundering cases fizzling out before reaching the logical conclusion owing to the quashing of the predicate offence FIR, the Madras High Court on Friday held that such cases registered by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cannot be allowed to be washed away.

A division bench of Justices S M Subramaniam and R Sakthivel made the comments when it asked the ED counsel to submit explanations to the queries regarding dropping of money laundering cases, particularly against former IPS officer Jaffar Sait. The ED had registered the money laundering case against Sait based on an FIR registered against him by the DVAC during the AIADMK regime over alleged illegal allotment of a housing plot. The DVAC FIR was later quashed.