The high court on Thursday sought a sealed-cover report from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the action it has initiated against former minister R Roshan Baig under the Prevention of Money Laundering (PML) Act.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka passed the order and observed that the central agency’s actions under the PML Act would have a direct bearing on the action taken by the competent authority appointed under the Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments (KPID) Act in the multi-crore IMA scam.
During the hearing, the counsels informed the court that the ED had recently raided Baig, whose properties have already been attached under the KPID Act over the IMA case.
While the bench said it cannot interfere with the ED’s actions under the PML Act, it directed the central agency to submit a report on the matter.
In 2019, the court had directed different government agencies, including the ED and the IMA competent authority, to cooperate with each other in the investigation.
Meanwhile, the high court was informed that applications filed by the competent authority before the special court for the confirmation of the order of attachment were still pending.
To this, the bench directed the special court to give out-of-turn priority to disposing of the applications.
The court said that the properties would be available for sale to pay off IMA investors only after the special court confirms the orders of attachment. The next hearing will take place on September 16.
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