Latest news with #ECIRs
NDTV
11 hours ago
- Sport
- NDTV
Actor Rana Daggubati Appears Before Probe Agency In Betting App Case With 5 Years' Bank Details
Hyderabad: Armed with a blue file that held bank statements for five years, actor Rana Daggubati appeared before the Enforcement Directorate's Hyderabad office in connection with the alleged online betting games promotion case Monday. The questioning at the Basheerbagh office lasted for nearly five hours. Soon after, the actor left the probe agency office, choosing not to make a statement or take any questions from the media. The actor, wearing dark glasses, said nothing as the car doors closed. Earlier, the probe agency, which investigates financial crimes, had issued a notice to the actor to appear before it on July 23. The 40-year-old actor, due to prior commitments of a shooting schedule at Tamil Nadu's Pollachi, had sought more time to appear before the Hyderabad Zonal ED office. Earlier this year, the Telangana police filed a First Information Report (FIR) against 29 celebrities and influencers, including popular figures like Rana Daggubati, Prakash Raj, Vijay Devarakonda, and Manchu Lakshmi for allegedly promoting illegal betting and gambling apps through their social media platforms. The complaint, filed on March 19, alleges a disturbing trend of celebrities and influencers promoting illegal gambling apps that violate the Public Gambling Act of 1867. Sources close to Rana Daggubati had told NDTV that a legal team had vetted the endorsement contract before he signed it. He also said Rana had only promoted skill-based games that the Supreme Court has said are legal, that too in regions where it is allowed, and his association had ended in 2017. Actor Vijay Devarakonda who appeared last week before the ED also sought to make the distinction between legal gaming apps and illegal betting apps, pointing out that the Indian cricket team, women's cricket, volleyball, kabaddi are all promoted by gaming apps that are legal, have a licence to operate, even pay GST. Complainant PM Phanindra Sarma, a 32-year-old businessman, had claimed that celebrities are allegedly accepting large sums of money to promote various betting platforms, which encourage users to gamble their hard-earned money. The petition emphasised that these apps and platforms are causing widespread financial harm, particularly among lower and middle-class families who are being lured into the false promise of easy money. The apps often rely on celebrities to build credibility, leading vulnerable individuals to invest substantial amounts of money, only to face financial ruin, claims the petitioner. The central agency filed its Enforcement Case Information Record (ECIRs) based on the FIRs and is looking at violations of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, in terms of tax violation, etc in sponsorship and promotion deals, revenue earned through digital advertising etc. Rana Daggubati is known for his roles in the movies like 'Baahubali' ', Baahubali 2', and 'Vettaiyan'.
India Today
4 days ago
- Politics
- India Today
Concerned with ED's image: Top court asks probe agency to improve investigation
The Supreme Court on Thursday made sharp observations against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) while hearing pleas seeking a review of its earlier verdict upholding key provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).'We are equally concerned with the image of the ED. Improve your investigation, improve your witnesses," the bench remarked. The Court flagged the poor conviction rate under PMLA, noting the gap between the number of registered cases and outcomes. 'In one of the cases we observed — you registered over 5,000 ECIRs. Conviction is less than 10,' the bench It also expressed concern over prolonged custody of accused persons. 'At the end of five or six years, when they've remained in custody and are acquitted What happens then?' the bench address delays, the Court suggested setting up special courts with day-to-day trials for ED, UAPA, and NIA cases. 'Go for day to day trials. Unless you ensure this, all these malpractices — good or bad — will continue,' the bench bench added that in daily trials, everyone knows that what is left today would be taken up for the ED, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju said investigators were overburdened. 'We are terribly handicapped. Investigators are even more burdened than the courts. Crooks have everything these days,' he said. The Court responded, 'You can't act like crooks. You have to act within the four corners of the law. There is a difference between law-enforcing authorities and law-violating bodies.'The ASG said influential accused often file numerous applications, forcing investigating officers to spend time in court instead of probing cases. He also cited 'procedural weaponisation,' saying, 'If we give a pen drive, they want a hard drive. If we give a hard drive, they want a pen drive.'Acknowledging the hurdles, the bench stressed structural changes. 'Unless trials happen daily, these tricks — good or bad — will keep surfacing.'The Court also flagged risks related to cryptocurrency, warning it could be misused. 'People will start taking bribes in crypto,' the bench noted, asking the ASG, 'But you don't want to regulate it?' The ASG replied, 'We're trying, but it becomes difficult.' The Court responded, 'No one said ban it. But it can be regulated. Even regular currency is regulated.' - EndsTune InMust Watch
Time of India
4 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
ED need not act like crook while probing crooks: SC
NEW DELHI: Supreme Court Thursday said Enforcement Directorate need not behave like a crook while investigating crooks under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), and that it must operate within the four walls of the rule of law and established procedure. This oral observation came from a bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and N K Singh, which was hearing petitions seeking review of SC's 2023 judgment in the Vijay Madanlal Choudhary case where the apex court upheld the broad powers ED enjoyed under PMLA. Additional solicitor general S V Raju requested the court to examine whether the review petitioners have pointed out even a single "error apparent on the face of the judgment" to cross the "maintainability" threshhold. Justice Kant chanced upon a miscellaneous application (MA) filed by a person, facing ED probe, seeking to join the review proceedings. "What is this procedure of filing MAs two years after judgment was pronounced? The practice of waiting for judges, who delivered the judgment, to retire to file such an application is deplorable and amounts to forum shopping," he said. Taking a cue, Raju said these are influential and powerful people with huge money bags and they can resort to any tactics. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villas For Sale in Dubai Might Surprise You Villas in Dubai | Search Ads Get Info Undo This triggered Justice Bhuyan, who said, "The crooks under investigation can resort to any tactics, but ED cannot behave like a crook. It has to investigate cases in accordance with law and the procedure laid down." Justice Bhuyan also flagged the low conviction rate in PMLA cases filed by ED. "I have observed in one of my judgments that ED has registered more than 5,000 ECIRs in the last five years but the rate of conviction is less than 10%. Even the minister admitted this in Parliament," he said. Raju, however, defended ED. "When an affluent or influential person is proceeded against, he engages a battery of lawyers, who flood the trial court with applications. The trial judge gets mired in disposing of the applications and gets little time to focus on conducting the trial in the main case," he said. Justice Kant said, "We are equally concerned about ED's image. You must improve your method of investigation and improve the rate of conviction. Why can't the govt set up fast-track special courts to conduct day-to-day trial of PMLA cases? Then the battery of lawyers would know that their delaying tactics would not work," he said. The bench then drifted towards the increasing possibility of cryptocurrency for money laundering. "We are not saying ban cryptocurrency. But there should be some regulation. Indian currency is also under certain regulations. Why can't crypto be subjected to regulations," it said.
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Supreme Court questions ‘poor' conviction rate in ED cases
Two separate Benches of the Supreme Court on Thursday (August 7, 2025) questioned the 'poor conviction rates' achieved by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in money laundering cases, when compared to the number of complaints and arrests made by the Central agency. Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai, heading a three-judge Bench hearing a review in the Bhushan Steel-JSW case, said the ED had been 'successful' in incarcerating people for years without convictions. Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, part of another apex court Bench hearing a batch of review petitions against the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), said, 'Out of about 400 ECIRs you (ED) have registered, less than only 10 have reached conviction.' 'People are in custody for four to five years and finally acquitted. We are equally concerned with the image of the ED,' Justice Bhuyan remarked. Justice Bhuyan also suggested that the ED improve its investigation methods. Influential accused persons blamed Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, appearing for the ED, blamed influential accused persons for hampering the 'poor investigators', saying the former park themselves and their money abroad, including in places like the Cayman Islands. Justice Bhuyan responded that to catch a crook, the investigator could not turn into one. 'There is a difference between law-enforcers and persons who violate the law,' the judge replied. Mr. Raju also said that accused persons delaying the trial by filing repeated applications was another reason. 'They do not allow trial to commence. They keep on seeking discharge,' he submitted. Justice Bhuyan said one cannot blame the law or the Constitution for the delay in ED cases. Justice Surya Kant intervened to point out that special courts with a dedicated cadre of judges trying money laundering cases under the PMLA may be the solution.
NDTV
4 days ago
- Politics
- NDTV
Enforcement Directorate Can't Act Like "Crook": Top Court Flags Low Conviction Rates
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate cannot act like a "crook" and has to confine itself within the four corners of the law, the Supreme Court said on Thursday as it flagged low conviction rates in cases investigated by the central agency. "We are also concerned for the image of the Enforcement Directorate," a bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh said. The top court is hearing pleas seeking review of the 2022 verdict that upheld the powers of arrest of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the Centre and the ED, questioned the maintainability of the review petitions and attributed the low conviction rate to the delaying tactics of "influential accused". "Influential crooks have a lot of wherewithal. They employ a battery of lawyers to file applications after applications at different stages to protract the proceedings, and the investigating officer of the case, instead of devoting time to investigation, keeps on running to court for one application or another," Mr Raju said. Justice Bhuyan referred to one of his judgements and said that of the 5,000 cases registered by the ED in the past five years, there were less than 10 per cent convictions and this factual statement was substantiated by the minister in Parliament. "You can't act like a crook; you have to act within the four corners of the law. I observed in one of my judgments that ED has registered around 5,000 ECIRs in the past five years, but the conviction rate is less than 10 why we have been insisting that you improve your investigation, as it deals with the liberty of the individual," Justice Bhuyan said. The judge continued, "We are also concerned about ED's image. At the end of 5-6 years of judicial custody, if people are acquitted, who will pay for this?" Justice Kant said the answer to all the problems was having dedicated courts akin to TADA and POTA courts, and the dedicated PMLA courts could conduct day-to-day proceedings, resulting in expeditious disposal of cases. "Yes, influential accused will still file numerous applications, but these accused and their lawyers will know that since it is a day-to-day trial, and their application will be decided the very next day. The time has come to hit them hard. We can't have sympathy for them. I know a magistrate who has to decide 49 applications in a day and pass orders for 10-20 pages in each of them. This cannot go on," he said. Mr Raju further noted that ED is getting "handicapped" after "influential accused" flee to different countries like the Cayman Islands, aside from dealing in cryptocurrencies and other sophisticated methods and impede investigation. On the point of cryptocurrencies, Justice Kant said the government ought to seriously think of regulating it as people were operating different apps and crypto stock exchanges. He said top court's Justice Joymalya Bagchi recently said in a case that a day would not be far when bribe takers would take bribes in cryptocurrency, which will be very difficult for the investigating agencies to investigate. Mr Raju questioned the authenticity of the review petitions, calling them "nothing but appeals" against the 2022 verdict disguised as a review. "For the review, you have to make out a case for error apparent on the face of the record in the 2022 verdict but they have not stated anywhere what the apparent error is. If these reviews are admitted, it would amount to rewriting the 2022 judgment," he said. Raju contended that the constitutional validity of the PMLA was in their favour as the Constitution bench in 2019 in the Roger Mathew case upheld the validity of the statute. "They (petitioners) took a chance and failed in that endeavour. Now they're saying, no, that was wrong, and redo it. A review can't be an appeal in disguise. They must first demonstrate that there is an error apparent on the face of the record when it comes to these two issues. The error apparent on the face of the record should not be an error that should be fished out. A review cannot be for asking. They have to make out an exceptionally strong case for review," Mr Raju said. Justice Kant also enquired about the methodology adopted by ED during arrests and whether grounds of arrest and reasons for arrests were given to the accused. Mr Raju submitted that there was no obligation on the ED under the statute to supply a copy of the ECIR (equivalent to an FIR) to the accused, but courts in subsequent rulings stressed on sharing of grounds and reasons of arrest with accused persons. The hearing would continue next week. In July 2022, the apex court in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary upheld the ED's powers to arrest, attach properties involved in money laundering and carry out search and seizure under the PMLA.
