Delhi HC dismisses Moin Qureshi plea against arrest by ED

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Friday dismissed the plea of controversial businessman Moin Akhtar Qureshi against his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case.

A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and P S Teji agreed with the ED's contention that there was 'no illegality' in his arrest and that a petition of habeas corpus was not maintainable.

A habeas corpus plea is a petition which is filed to ensure that a person under arrest is brought before a court which will determine whether the detention is legal.

The Centre and the ED had opposed the plea,



saying questioning of his arrest was an 'abuse' of the legal process, claiming there were serious charges of hawala transactions against him.

The government had also refuted Qureshi's allegations that he was unauthorisedly detained by the ED in the money laundering case, saying he was arrested under statutory provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and remanded to ED custody by a competent trial court.

Qureshi was arrested on August 25 and sent to ED custody by the trial court the next day for the thorough probe in the case against him and others. He is presently in judicial custody.