Overview
- The court cancelled non-bailable warrants issued by a special court in February 2023 against UK-based entrepreneur Sachin Dev Duggal in an ED money-laundering inquiry.
- It recorded that Duggal had been summoned for inquiry under Section 50 of the PMLA and was not treated as an accused in any scheduled or money-laundering offence.
- The order reaffirmed that Section 73 permits such warrants only for a convict, a proclaimed offender, or a person accused of a non-bailable offence who is evading arrest.
- Finding those prerequisites unmet, the High Court concluded the special court’s issuance of warrants went beyond the statute’s limits.
- The ED was granted liberty to proceed afresh in line with legal procedure, including proper service of summons to a person residing abroad.