The Delhi High Court on Monday, 23 January 2023, in its order in Raghav Bahl versus the Enforcement Directorate Ministry of Finance [W.P.(CRL) 2392/2021, CRL.M.A. 19314/2021, CRL.M.A. 14701/2022, CRL.M.A. 25294/2022, CRL.M.A. 14700/2022], refused to admit the petition for quashing of the ECIR, calling it ‘premature’.
The High Court held that “the petitioner is seeking quashing of ECIR and according to the Supreme Court in “Kirit Shrimankar vs U.O.I” in W.P.(Crl) 109/2013 has held that a writ remedy on account of issuance of summons at the stage of investigation/enquiry is highly premature.”
Furthermore, as stated in the court order, the allegations in the complaint u/s 51 regarding evasion of tax are being investigated. So, “whether there is generation of proceeds of crime or not is being investigated and for the aforesaid reasons, the petition as of today is premature.”
