NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Monday turned down Enforcement Directorate’s plea challenging Delhi and Bombay HC orders quashing police and ED investigation against Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd (IHFL) and asked the agency to resort to alternative remedies, including seeking review of the orders.
Bombay HC had in May last year allowed a plea by IHFL seeking to quash an FIR, filed in Wada in Palghar district, for cheating, criminal breach of trust, and other charges levelled by a shareholder.
As ED had also initiated a probe against the company and its officials on the basis of predicate offence after registration of FIR, IHFL had moved Delhi HC for quashing of ED proceedings and HC had allowed its plea in Sept last year.
Challenging both orders, ED moved SC and additional solicitor general S V Raju submitted that it should be allowed to go ahead with the probe. But senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Siddharth Luthra, appearing for the company, argued ED had no locus standi to challenge the order to quash the FIR filed by police which resulted in quashing of ED probe.
SC, after hearing both sides, noted that Bombay HC had quashed the FIR after questioning the conduct of the complainant who lodged the FIR and the court passed the order without hearing ED.
