On Friday, the Delhi High Court declined to dismiss Enforcement Directorate (ED) proceedings against businessman Amit Katyal. He is accused of engaging in transactions with the family members of former railways minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in connection with the alleged railway jobs scam related to land dealings.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma emphasized that the investigation in this case is still ongoing, and Amit Katyal has been called in to provide specific documents. The Court emphasized that it is not in a position to impede the investigation at this initial stage of issuing summonses.

The ongoing investigation in the current ECIR is still in progress, and the petitioner has been summoned solely to provide specific documents. According to the petitioner's own admission, he has cooperated with the investigation in the present ECIR by appearing before the Directorate of Enforcement on six occasions between March and August 2023. Therefore, the Court concluded that there are no valid reasons presented to quash the challenged summons.

Justice Sharma also noted a contradiction in Katyal's arguments. While on one hand, Katyal claimed that he did not possess the ECIR and was unaware of whether he had been named as an accused, he was simultaneously seeking the quashing of the ECIR concerning his involvement, as highlighted by the Court.

As a result, the Court declined Katyal's requests to quash the Enforcement Directorate's summons and to instruct the agency not to take any coercive action against him.

"In light of these circumstances, where the petitioner has been summoned solely under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), and the ECIR is not on record, and the petitioner has failed to establish any grounds at this stage to warrant this Court's direction for the respondent to provide a copy of the ECIR, which is also one of the requests in this petition, the Court believes that the plea to quash the ECIR is premature and lacks merit," the Court stated.

Katyal approached the High Court out of concerns that he might face arrest in the case, particularly in light of Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids conducted at places associated with him. He informed the Court that the ED had summoned him multiple times, and he had already complied on six occasions. Despite his cooperation with the investigation and the fact that he was not named as an accused in the initial offense, he expressed frustration at being repeatedly summoned and questioned by the ED.

The multi-crore land for jobs scam revolves around allegations that land was illicitly exchanged as bribes to secure Group D jobs in the Indian Railways between 2004 and 2009, a period during which Lalu Prasad Yadav served as the Railways Minister. Yadav and his family members faced accusations of accepting land as kickbacks in exchange for appointing individuals to these positions.

The allegation against Katyal pertains to his role as the Director and major shareholder of M/s AK Infosystem Pvt Ltd. During this period, the company is alleged to have received land parcels from a relative of a candidate who was chosen as a substitute for a Group D position in the Indian Railways.

In 2014, the company AK Infosystem was transferred to the family members of Lalu Yadav without any monetary exchange. The Enforcement Directorate's case also included allegations that the proceeds from the alleged criminal activities were used to acquire a property in New Friends Colony, New Delhi, under the name of M/s AB Exports Private Limited. Additionally, it was suggested that Katyal, who was considered a close associate of Lalu Yadav, had applied for an electricity connection for the said property, purportedly to enable its use by Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family.

Case: Amit Katyal Vs. Directorate of Enforcement, W.P.(CRL) 2981/2023 & CRL.M.A. 27792/2023.