Archive · 22 Aug 2026
Delhi High Court Says ED Cannot Revive Closed PMLA Case
The Enforcement Directorate was investigating a money-laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The case was connected to an earlier police complaint.
Investigators later closed that complaint because they found no offence had been made out.
A trial court accepted the closure.
The ED then tried to add a different, older police complaint to the same investigation.
The Delhi High Court said this was not allowed.
The court said the ED should have started a new case if the legal conditions were satisfied.
It also said the original case could not continue unless the closure decision was overturned by a higher court.
The Delhi High Court ruled that the Enforcement Directorate cannot add an old FIR to an existing ECIR after the underlying predicate offence has been closed.
Justice Anish Dayal called the ED’s action illegal and procedurally irregular.
The original ECIR was based on a February 2021 Economic Offences Wing FIR involving alleged forged signatures, share transfers and bank transactions.
The Economic Offences Wing filed a cancellation report in December 2022, which the trial court later accepted.
The court said the ED could have registered a fresh ECIR based on the separate 2019 FIR if legal requirements were met.
- Who
- The Delhi High Court, Justice Anish Dayal and the Enforcement Directorate were involved; the original allegations concerned factions of the family of late former MP Mahendra Prasad.
- What
- The court ruled that the ED could not preserve an existing ECIR by adding an old FIR after the predicate offence supporting it had been closed.
- When
- The ECIR was registered in December 2021; the original FIR was closed in December 2022; the separate 2019 FIR was added through an August 2025 addendum.
- Where
- The ruling was issued by the Delhi High Court in New Delhi.
- Why
- The court said an ECIR depends on an active predicate or scheduled offence, and proceedings cannot continue after the underlying FIR is closed unless that closure is overturned by a superior court.
- Agency
- Enforcement Directorate
- Applicable law
- Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)
- Original ECIR
- Registered in December 2021
- Underlying FIR
- Filed by the Economic Offences Wing in February 2021
- Closure report
- Filed in December 2022 and accepted by the trial court
- Added FIR
- A separate 2019 FIR was added through an August 2025 addendum
- Court’s finding
- The ED’s action was described as illegal and procedurally irregular