NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday criticized the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for its “terrible” conduct in interrogating former IAS officer Anil Tuteja throughout the night and showing his arrest at 4 a.m. in connection with the Chhattisgarh liquor scam. The court expressed dismay over the agency’s high-handedness, though it clarified that this would not be grounds to quash Tuteja’s arrest, which he had challenged.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih termed the actions of the ED as “disturbing,” but allowed Tuteja to withdraw his petition against the arrest and seek bail in the trial court instead. The court highlighted the troubling sequence of events, noting that on April 20, 2024, Tuteja was summoned twice by the ED while already present at the ACB office in Raipur. After being taken to the ED office in a van, he was interrogated all night and was officially arrested at 4 a.m.
Tuteja’s counsel, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, argued that the ED’s actions were illegal, as there was no necessity for his client’s arrest, especially since the agency had already filed a complaint in April but later registered a new ECIR with the same facts. Singhvi called the arrest unjustified and without legal grounds.
In response, Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, representing the ED, admitted that the agency’s officers had acted excessively. He assured the court that remedial steps had been taken, including an internal circular instructing officers to record statements during office hours and to avoid late-night interrogations unless absolutely necessary.
Previously, the bench had expressed concern over the implementation of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), emphasizing that actions against accused individuals should not violate fundamental rights or be conducted in a high-handed manner.
