2022 (1) TMI 1428

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....uled offence' under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (in short "the PML Act"), the Enforcement Directorate registered a case in ECIR No. CEZO-I/39/2021 on 31.03.2021, for quashing which, Dhanraj Kochar and others have filed the present criminal original petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C. 2. Inasmuch as the Registry entertained a doubt about the very maintainability of the petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C., the matter was posted for hearing under the caption "for maintainability". 3. Heard Mr. P. Ramesh Kumar, learned counsel for the petitioners and Mr. Rajnish Pathiyil, learned Special Public Prosecutor for the Enforcement Directorate. 4. Mr. Ramesh Kumar submitted that the impugned ECIR refers to the FIRs that wer....

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....to secure the ends of justice The expression "or otherwise to secure the ends of justice" should be read ejusdem generis with (b) above. 7. It is to be borne in mind that an ECIR is not registered under the Code of Criminal Procedure and it is not akin to an FIR, which is registered under Section 154 Cr.P.C. and sent to the jurisdictional Magistrate in terms of Section 157 Cr.P.C. The scope of an ECIR has been discussed by a Division Bench of this Court in which one of us (PNPJ) was a Member in The Assistant Director, Directorate of Enforcement Vs. Justin Devadoss @ David and Others [2021-1-L.W.(Crl.) 605], wherein, in paragraphs 13 and 17, it has been held as follows: "13. The ECIR is an administrative form that is used by t....

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....482 Cr.P.C., because, the registration of the ECIR is not under the Code. 8. Next, the scope of Section 482 Cr.P.C. has been succinctly laid down by a Division Bench of this Court way back in 1991 in K. Rajamanickam and Others Vs. State of Tamil Nadu, Inspector General and Another [2015 (3) MWN (Cr.) 379 (DB)],8 the relevant portion of which reads as under: "5. The first part or the first clause, understood as above, conveys that the inherent power of the High Court can come into play when it is necessary to give effect to any order under the Code, if there is no express bar and if there is no other provision of the Act to ensure the implementation of the order. The second part or the clause will be available if in any proceedin....