No super cop: Karnataka HC defines ED's powers, rejects corruption case against Congress MLA

Résumé détaillé

The Karnataka High Court quashed an ED case against a Congress MLA and others. The ruling draws a definitive boundary around the agency's investigative authority.

The Karnataka High Court has drawn a clear ‘Laxman Rekha’ around the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) powers, observing that the central agency cannot function as a 'super cop' or investigate every matter that comes to its notice.

Quashing the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) registered against Congress MLA KY Nanjegowda and others, the court set aside all consequential proceedings initiated by the agency, including its private complaint and property attachment orders.

A single-judge bench of Justice ML Arun held that the ED's powers under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) are derivative and not original, meaning that its jurisdiction depends on the existence of a predicate offence, or an underlying scheduled crime.

"ED is not a super cop to investigate anything and everything which comes into its notice," Justice Arun said, referring to the statutory restrictions…

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