HC seeks ED reply on its former official's plea in PMLA case

The Delhi High Court today sought the Enforcement Directorate's response on a plea by its former official who has opposed a probe against him in a money laundering case on the grounds that it was being done by the agency's director who is also the complainant in the case.
Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva issued notice to the ED on the petition by its former Joint Director J P Singh, who was arrested by the CBI for allegedly receiving money from several suspects in two cases of hawala and cricket betting rackets unearthed by his team about three years ago.
The court sought response of the ED, represented through central government standing counsel Amit Mahajan, and listed the matter for March 13 for further hearing.

Singh's counsel argued that in the money laundering case, the ED director is the complainant and he is also probing the matter. He claimed that an officer who is also the complainant cannot investigate the case as he would have already made up his mind.
The counsel sought a direction that the ED officials may continue the probe but they shall not take instruction from the agency's director in the case.
The court, however, refused to grant any such interim relief at this stage.

It asked the counsel if the director will not investigate the case, who else will do so as per the statute.

The ED had lodged the case under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to probe the alleged proceeds of crime.
The CBI had in February 2017 arrested Singh along with his former subordinate and the then additional director of ED Sanjay Kumar and alleged middlemen Bimal Agrawal and Chandresh Patel. The agency had registered a corruption case against him in 2015 following a complaint from the ED.
Singh was later granted bail in the CBI case.
Based on reports allegedly revealing that the 2000-batch Indian Revenue Service officer of the customs and excise wing was indulging in corrupt practices, the ED had shifted him out from its Ahmedabad zone.

It was alleged that he and Kumar had conspired with their contacts to extort money from the suspects in the Surat-based hawala racket and the Rs 2,000-crore cricket betting racket for not taking legal action against them.
In 2016, the CBI had arrested three "bookies" for allegedly working for Singh as informers.