Karnataka High Court Rules Enforcement Directorate Cannot Act As Super Cop

The <b>Karnataka High Court</b> has drawn a sharp line around the powers of the Enforcement Directorate, ruling that the agency is not a super cop to investigate anything and everything coming to its notice. The Court stated that the agency cannot bypass the statutory framework to independently create the foundation for a money-laundering investigation. The Court held that the <b>ED</b>, unlike an ordinary private individual, must exercise only those powers that have been expressly conferred upon it under the law. It emphasized that the agency's powers under the <b>Prevention of Money Laundering Act</b> are derivative and not original. The bench further ruled that proceedings under the statute cannot continue when the predicate or scheduled offence forming their foundation no longer survives.