Court Slams 'Super Cop' ED, Unfreezes ₹901 Cr in Money Laundering Case

The Madras High Court has come down heavily on the Enforcement Directorate, saying the agency is neither a "super cop" to investigate anything and everything that catches its eyes nor is a "drone" to attack at will on any "criminal activity".

- R SIVAKUMAR @ Chennai

A division bench of Justices MS Ramesh and V Lakshminarayanan made these observations while ordering the release of ₹901 crore fixed deposits of Chennai-based RKM Powergen Private Limited. The company filed petitions in the court, challenging the central agency's order on January 31 this year to freeze the amount.

The ED had proceeded against the company under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on a 2014 FIR registered by the CBI over allocation of coal blocks for running a thermal power plant in Chhattisgarh in 2006. CBI registered the cases under relevant sections for criminal conspiracy, cheating, and under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) as per the apex court's directions, which cancelled the coal allocation based on a PIL. The ED registered an ECIR under PMLA in the same year.