Enforcement Directorate challenges Delhi High Court's dismissal of PMLA case against NewsClick

The Enforcement Directorate approached the Supreme Court, contesting a Delhi High Court decision that nullified its enforcement case one outlet's report (ECIR) in the PMLA investigation of NewsClick. The agency argued that the high court rejected the ECIR without examining the substantive money-laundering claims and that the judgment was delayed by five months. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, in a May 29 ruling, described the FIR lodged by the Economic Offences Wing as a gross misuse of law and held that the alleged Rs 9.59 crore foreign direct investment from Worldwide Media Holdings LLC did not breach any legal restriction, noting the absence of a proper complainant and the normal expenses of a digital media firm.

The court also dismissed the ED’s conspiracy allegation, finding no evidence of an illegal objective or means. Consequently, both the FIR and the ECIR were quashed, making the ED’s request for the ECIR copy moot. The matter remains unlisted for a Supreme Court hearing.