ED Knows the Case Is Slipping Away and Thus, Gets FIR Registered By DGP of Haryana: Vedpal Tanwar Before Delhi HC

Vedpal Tanwar, before the Delhi High Court, alleged that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was aware that the offences against him were not sustainable. He submitted that, in order to maintain continuity in the investigation, the ED got an FIR registered through the Director General of Police (DGP) of Haryana.

The bench of Justice Girish Kathpalia held, “Section 3 of PMLA has two aspects- proceeds of crime and dealing with said proceeds. If there is no existence of proceeds of crime, no case of money laundering can be made out… That is why there is one predicate offence and a money laundering act. Predicate offence is Sine qua non to the offence of money laundering”.

Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa, appearing on behalf of Tanwar, informed the court that the present application was for regular bail. However, he requested that the earlier medical bail application be kept pending as he intended to conclude his final arguments in that matter as well.

Senior Advocate Pahwa began his submissions by reading Section 3 of the PMLA, asserting that the offence of money laundering could not stand without the existence of “proceeds of crime”. He explained that a predicate offence was a sine qua non for invoking the provisions of the PMLA, and any individual who dealt with such proceeds would be liable under the Act.

To substantiate his argument, Senior Advocate Pahwa relied on the judgment of the Supreme Court in the Vijay Madan Lal case, which dealt with predicate offences arising under the Environment Protection Act (EPA). He submitted that a criminal complaint had been filed on May 23, 2022, by the Haryana Pollution Control Board under Sections 15, 16, and 19 of the EPA. Summoning orders were issued on the same day.

However, Senior Advocate Pahwa contended that Tanwar was not an accused in that case. He further pointed out that although the bill removing the EPA from the list of scheduled offences under PMLA had only been proposed at the time, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had registered an ECIR before the bill was passed. He stated that the Lok Sabha passed the bill on July 27, 2023, followed by the Rajya Sabha on August 2, 2023.

Senior Advocate Pahwa submitted that the ED conducted a search operation on August 3, 2023, and then invoked Section 66(2) of the PMLA to share information with the Director General of Police, Haryana. A subsequent FIR was registered by the DGP, and Tanwar was arrested on May 30, 2024.

He questioned the validity of the FIR and argued that the arrest was based on Section 7 of the EPA, which, according to him, was not invoked in the earlier proceedings and had already ceased to be a scheduled offence by the time of his arrest. He also informed the Court that a petition under Section 482 CrPC was filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking quashing of the FIR, which remained pending. Further, he referred to a prosecution complaint filed on July 27, 2024, in which no cognizance had yet been taken. He emphasized that there was no existing predicate offence, and the basis of the ECIR itself was under challenge.

Senior Advocate Pahwa also addressed findings by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which had previously held that the firm GMM was engaged in illegal mining. However, he argued that the NGT order was not a predicate offence and, in any event, had been set aside on merits by the Supreme Court on December 5, 2024, and remanded back for reconsideration.

Special Counsel Zoheb Hussain, appearing virtually for the ED, disputed this claim, stating that the NGT order had been set aside only on technical grounds.

Background:

The case arose from a complaint filed by the Regional Officer of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board against M/s Govardhan Mines and Minerals. The firm was allegedly involved in illegal and unscientific mining in the Dadam area, leading to environmental degradation and significant revenue loss to the state.

A search and seizure operation conducted by the ED on August 3, 2023, led to the recovery of unaccounted cash, documents, and assets, including ₹3.7 crore worth of jewellery and documents, ₹26.45 lakh in cash, and a Mercedes car valued at ₹1 crore.

Notably, the illegal mining operations also allegedly resulted in the deaths of five individuals due to landslides in the region.

Earlier, on April 28, 2025, the Delhi High Court had disposed of the ED’s plea against the interim bail granted to Tanwar, noting that the relief had already expired and he had surrendered. Justice Ravinder Dudeja presided over that hearing.

Tanwar was initially granted interim bail in January 2025 by Justice Vikas Mahajan for a period of six weeks to undergo gall bladder surgery. Despite ED’s objections, the Court had observed that the medical condition justified his temporary release.

In February 2025, Tanwar once again approached the Court, challenging the sustainability of the PMLA proceedings, arguing that they were founded primarily on a provision of the EPA that no longer constituted a scheduled offence. He had also challenged the legality of his arrest before the Punjab and Haryana High Court in September 2024.

The court listed the case for further consideration on May 16, 2025.

For Petitioner: Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa with Advocates Puneet Budhiraja and Varun Agarwal

For Respondent: Special Counsel Zoheb Hossain with Advocate Vivek Gurnani

Case Title: Vedpal Singh Tanwar v ED (BAIL APPLN. 4102/2024)