The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday slammed the Enforcement Directorate for interrogating an accused in a money laundering case for nearly 15 hours while setting aside the arrest. Sonepat MLA and Congress candidate Surender Panwar was arrested by the ED in July in connection with an illegal mining case.
Justice Mahabir Singh Sindhu said ED’s interrogating of Panwar for 14 hours and 40 minutes in July was “not heroic” on the part of the agency and “rather against the dignity of a human being.”.
The court observed the ED should take remedial measures and sensitise its officers to follow reasonable time limits for investigation against suspects in such cases.
“To be precise, it would be appreciated if some necessary mechanism is put in place for a fair investigation of the accused as per basic human rights laid down by the United Nations Organisation (UNO), instead of meting out unnecessary harassment for such a longer duration at one stretch for a given day,” the order said.
In a detailed judgement, the high court said the accused has not been found involved in any illegal activity attracting the offence of money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and the initial arrest as well as grounds of arrest have been found to be unsustainable in law.