NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice on the Enforcement Directorate’s plea challenging a trial court’s order to release three senior executives of Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo, who were arrested in an alleged money laundering case registered by the central probe agency last year.
While issuing notice to the three accused officials—Hong Xuquan, Harender Dahiya and Hemant Kumar Munjal—a vacation bench of Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said the officials have already been released as per the Patiala House court’s order of December 30, and clarified that no ex parte interim order could be passed at this juncture.
In July last year, after conducting multiple raids at Vivo- India offices and the premises of those linked to it, the agency claimed to have busted a major money laundering racket involving Chinese nationals and multiple Indian companies.
“I would have been inclined [to pass an interim order] had we got a situation where they were not released,” the singlebench noted in the order. “However, keeping in view the urgency in the present matter, notices be issued to the respondents,” the order added further.
The matter will be further heard on Wednesday when the high court resumes after the vacation.The earlier trial court order had also included a condition on the accused to report to the ED office on a daily basis till January 3.