The Kerala High Court on Thursday stayed the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to the Registrar of Cooperative Societies asking him to appear before the ED with a copy of his passport, two passport size photographs, Aadhaar and PAN card details of his family members.
The summons has been issued in light of the cases registered in connection with siphoning of deposits in Karuvannur Cooperative Bank, Thrissur.
When the petition filed by the Cooperative Society Registrar T.V. Subhash challenging the summons came up for hearing, Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan observed that the summons were not issued in accordance with the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Counsel for the ED then submitted that the department was not intending to proceed with the summons and if necessary, the department will issue fresh summons in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
The court made it clear that the court’s interim order will not stand in the way of the ED in issuing fresh summons in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
The court also observed that the ED was free to file a counter affidavit. In his petition, Mr. Subhash said that the ED’s action in asking him to produce passport, Aadhaar and PAN cards of his family members was an infringement of their right to privacy.
He also pointed out that the summons did not set out the purpose for which it was issued. It was to discredit the co-operative sector of the State in its entirety. It can conduct a probe only into a predicate offence. The scope and purport of the investigation by the ED should be restricted to laundering of the proceeds of the predicate offence. The ED was attempting to conduct a roving inquiry into the affairs of the co- operative sector in the State. The query that had been sent to him, along with the summons, seeking the details on the adverse inspection reports submitted before the Registrar from 2010 and its action taken reports as well as the list of dormant and liquidated societies, were beyond the scope of investigation into the proceeds of crime of the predicate offence.
