On Monday, the High Court of Delhi issued a notice to the Enforcement Directorate on a petition by a firm, Conwood Construction & Developers (P) Ltd. (CCDPL) which was acquitted in the 2G scam-related money laundering case along with former telecom minister A Raja & others, seeking to release its properties worth Rs 22 crore attached by the agency.

Justice Brijesh Sethi, who was conducting hearing through video conferencing, issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate on the application.

Lawyer Vijay Aggarwal appeared on behalf of CCDPL. After giving a brief background of the matter he submitted that Enforcement Directorate is not looking after the properties post its attachment under PMLA, 2002 and Enforcement Directorate has not paid property tax & other statutory dues which is leading diminishing the value of the properties. It was argued that Enforcement Directorate is in a position of a "bailee" & it is bound to take all the necessary steps & actions to ensure that the "value" of the property attached does not get reduced, however, ED has completely failed to perform its duties.

Conwood was accused of parking the proceeds of the alleged crime of Rs 22.56 crore from Dynamix Realty to Kusegaon Fruits & Vegetables Pvt Ltd, whose promoters were also acquitted in the 2G scam cases.

Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain appearing on behalf of Enforcement Directorate sought time to file a reply to the application & accordingly notice on the said application was issued to ED and the Court has now adjourned the application till August 26, 2020, for filing reply by ED and disposal of the Application.

The High Court of Delhi is currently hearing the appeal filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate against the acquittal of former telecom minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi & others in connection with the 2G scam case.

Notably, the CBI & Enforcement Directorate had moved the High Court of Delhi in March 2018 against the acquittal of all accused in the 2G spectrum case which came to light in 2017. In Dec 2017, a Special CBI Court had acquitted DMK politicians A Raja, Kanimozhi, & 15 others implicated in the 2G spectrum case. 

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