‘Can’t act like a crook,’ says Supreme Court to ED

The Supreme Court on Thursday came down heavily on the Enforcement Directorate (ED), reminding the central agency that it must act within the boundaries of the law and not behave “like a crook”, as per reports.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh reportedly made the remarks during the hearing of a batch of review petitions challenging the court’s July 2022 verdict, which had upheld the ED’s sweeping powers of arrest, search, and seizure under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Appearing for the Centre, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju argued that the ED was not obligated to share the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) — its version of an FIR — with those accused, as per reports. 

He reportedly claimed this was often necessary because accused individuals tend to flee to offshore jurisdictions like the Cayman Islands. “Crooks have a lot of wherewithal, whereas the poor Investigating Officer doesn't,” he said.

Justice Bhuyan, however, reportedly said, “You can’t act like a crook, you have to act within the four corners of the law.”