BENGALURU: Maintaining that the Special Court has the jurisdiction to pass orders on an application filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Karnataka High Court quashed an order issued by a Magistrate and allowed ED’s application for recording the statement of D Harsha, First Division Assistant, Recruitment Section, Police Department, who is in judicial custody after he was arrested for alleged involvement in Police Sub-Inspectors (PSI) recruitment scam.
Allowing the petition filed by Harsha, Justice M Nagaprasanna said that the Magistrate does not have jurisdiction to entertain the application of ED to record the statement of the accused under PMLA as the Special Court or Sessions Court can pass orders on such applications. However, the judge granted liberty to the ED to file application before the Special Court for obtaining permission.
The ED has filed Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) against the petitioner and others to check huge cash flow. Pursuant of ECIR, the authorities of the ED on August 30, 2022 filed an application under Section 50 (3) of the PMLA before the Magistrate seeking permission to record the written statement of five accused, including the petitioner, who are in judicial custody and to allow two officers of the ED with a laptop and a printer for the purpose of recording the statements and also sought a direction to the jail authorities to cooperate.
The First Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate allowed ED’s application on September 14, 2022 and this was questioned by the petitioner before the High Court. The petitioner is one of the accused in a case registered in Kalaburagi which was later transferred to CID. He is accused number 29 in another case registered at the High Ground Police Station in connection with the scam. Meanwhile, a chargesheet
was filed against him along with others.