This is an archive article published on November 24, 2024
Delhi court pulls up ED for ‘derogatory’ and ‘offensive’ response, asks special director to appear before it
The Delhi court was hearing an application filed by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar seeking the release of some sheets and digital devices in a money laundering case.
Written by Nirbhay Thakur
New Delhi | Updated: November 24, 2024 04:24 PM IST
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He also mentioned another case where the agency made a false submission before the court. (File)
A Delhi Court on Saturday pulled up the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for an “offensive” and “derogatory” response by its counsel to a query. Special Judge Jitendra Singh asked the special director to appear before it and verify whether the counsel had been acting and conducting the case as per his instruction.
“As the Counsel for the DoE (ED) has failed to specify the reason for seeking adjournment and has simply stated that he has been asked by the higher-ups to do so, I am constrained to issue notice to worthy Special Director to appear and specify the stand of DoE with regard to the present application and to verify as to whether its counsel has been acting and conducting the case as per their instruction. The response of the worthy Special Director is further necessitated to initiate appropriate action for upholding the dignity of the court,” the Judge wrote in his order.
The court was hearing an application filed by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar seeking the release of some sheets and digital devices in a money laundering case. The Supreme Court quashed the criminal proceedings against Shivakumar in this case in March this year.
Special Public Prosecutor Manish Jain, representing the ED, submitted that he had been instructed that 15 days may be granted to reply to the application. To this, Shivakumar’s counsel argued that the ED was “deliberately” not releasing the articles “just to harass” the applicant.
After the ED counsel sought an adjournment, the court cited the high court mandate saying that special courts should list cases at least once a week and no adjournment should be granted unless extremely necessary.
“The question was put to the Ld. Counsel to inform the Court regarding the extreme necessity for seeking adjournment to which Ld. Counsel (of the ED) in a very offensive and derogatory manner with loud tone audible to the Counsels present in the Court room submits ‘Court ko jaisa lage waisa kar le’ (The court can do what it feels is right),” the Judge said.
“This Court wonders why Ld. Counsel (representing the ED) got so agitated on putting of a simple query. This is not a solitary instance where the counsels for DoE have behaved in such a manner,” Judge Singh added.
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He also mentioned another case where the agency made a false submission before the court. “This is not a solitary instance where the counsels for DoE have behaved in such a manner. In ECIR No. DLZO-1/43/2021 in case titled as ‘Directorate of Enforcement Vs. Amrendra Dhari Singh & Ors.’, the Counsel appearing for DoE had made a false submission regarding the supply of list of unrelied documents,” he further wrote.
Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.
Professional Background
Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.
Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.
Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.
Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.
Recent notable articles
In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.
1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.
2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.
3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.
Signature Style
Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.
X (Twitter): @Nirbhaya99 ... Read More
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