Overview

• The ED withdrew its June 19 summons to senior advocate Pratap Venugopal, which had sought his evidence in a money laundering probe of Care Health Insurance’s undervalued ESOP grant.
• A new circular bars field investigators from summoning any advocate in violation of Section 132 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 without the prior approval of the ED Director.
• The withdrawn notice to Venugopal was issued in his capacity as an independent director of CHIL to explore board discussions on ESOPs previously rejected by the IRDAI.
• The ED stated that any documents required from Venugopal in his director role will now be requested via email rather than through coercive summons.
• Legal bodies including the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association, the Supreme Court Bar Association and the Bar Association of India had condemned earlier summonses to Venugopal and Arvind Datar as undermining professional independence and privilege.