On 18 August 2026, Justice Anish Dayal of the Delhi High Court quashed an addendum the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had issued to an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR). The ECIR arose from a family dispute over a late industrialist’s estate. The ED had relied only on an Economic Offences Wing FIR alleging forgery and siphoning of funds. The EOW filed a cancellation report, and a magistrate accepted it in June 2025. In August 2025 the ED issued an addendum adding a different, older FIR as the predicate offence, and then carried out searches, froze accounts and issued summons.
What was decided
The Court held the addendum “legally unsustainable” and set aside every step taken under it. It noted that the ED had known of the older FIR since at least 2023 but used it only after the original predicate case was closed. It found no “same transaction” link between the two FIRs and no traceable proceeds of crime. It called the addendum a colourable exercise of power, an attempt to “breathe life into a proceeding which had lost its foundational basis”.
The Court also quashed the proceedings under the original ECIR, including freezing and seizure orders. It said that “once the scheduled offence stands extinguished”, the ED cannot continue its civil or coercive powers. A pending challenge to the closure report did not change this, because the closure had not been stayed. The ED may seek revival if an appellate court restores the closed FIR.
Why it matters
This applies the Supreme Court’s view in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary that PMLA proceedings depend on a live scheduled offence. It also deals with a newer practice: adding a fresh FIR to an existing ECIR by addendum after the original foundation has fallen away.
For businesses and families in civil or inheritance disputes that have turned into criminal complaints, which is common in property matters across Delhi NCR and western Uttar Pradesh, the ruling lets them challenge ED steps that rest on a predicate offence already closed.
Practical points
- Keep track of the status of every FIR cited in an ECIR: closure, cancellation, quashing or acquittal.
- If an addendum appears, compare its dates with the closure of the original predicate and ask whether the two cases are the same transaction.
- Freezing and seizure orders made under an ECIR that has lost its basis can be challenged with it.
- Check whether the closure order has been stayed in revision. This decides whether the ECIR can continue.
Sources: LiveLaw Biz, 24 Aug 2026.
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General legal information only; not legal advice or solicitation.
