The Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) is an Enforcement Directorate document which is widely seen as similar to the police first information report.
- Unlike the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC), where an FIR is registered by the police under section 154 before initiating investigation into a cognizable offence, there is no legal compulsion under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) to do the same, for the simple reason that, there is no provision under the PMLA which mandates the registration of an ECIR before starting an investigation into the offence of money laundering.
- The ECIR is “just a name” given to an internal document only “for the purpose of identification” of a case, the federal agency has told the Delhi High Court.
- The ED that probes money-laundering cases said “nothing emanates from an ECIR” and that it was “not a prerequisite” for starting investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
- This view was endorsed by the honorable Delhi High Court in Virbhadra Singh v. Enforcement directorate and ors, 2017 (3) RCR Criminal 576.
- The ECIR need not be shared with any accused, the ED argued, while saying also that it was “not a complaint” but just “a number given to an internal document” for identification.
- Since, there is no legal requirement of registering an ECIR therefore there is no corresponding liability upon the Enforcement Directorate to provide the copy of an ECIR to the accused at the threshold stage.
- The first time when the accused gets a copy of the ECIR, is at the stage of attachment proceeding before the Adjudicating Authority.
- The Enforcement Directorate d supplies all the Relied Upon Documents (RUD) to the accused in which the ECIR is also a part.
