The Patna High Court has issued a stay on the money laundering case involving an individual accused by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The accusations pertain to the alleged distribution of alcohol in Bihar, contravening the Bihar Excise Prohibition Act of 2016.

Justice Satyavrat Verma has instructed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to submit its response to the petition aimed at nullifying the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) filed by the ED in 2022.

Sunil Bhardwaj, the petitioner, has approached the Court seeking the dismissal of the money laundering case. He argues that the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) filed by the ED should be quashed because the offense punishable under the Bihar Excise Prohibition Act is not listed in the schedule of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The counsel representing the petitioner further argued that the central issue in this case pertains to whether the Enforcement Directorate (ED) can extend the scope of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by invoking Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code to include any offense under its purview.

In this context, the counsel referred to a recent Supreme Court verdict in Pavana Dibbur vs Directorate of Enforcement. The contention is that, according to this verdict, an offense under Section 120B of the IPC is categorized as a PMLA offense only if the conspiracy is aimed at committing an offense explicitly listed in the schedule under the IPC.

The counsel representing the ED sought six weeks time for filing a counter affidavit. While allowing the request, the Court passed the following direction:

“The counter affidavit shall give parawise reply of the pleadings made in the quashing application and shall also reply the submission made by the learned counsel for the petitioner based on the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court as recorded herein above.”

The Court has scheduled the next hearing for April 29 regarding this matter. In the meantime, the Court has put a hold on any further proceedings related to the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR). It's important to note that this stay applies specifically to the petitioner.