ED Admits Mistake in Summoning Lawyers for Legal Opinions
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has acknowledged its mistake in calling senior advocates Arvind Datar and Pratap Venugopal to provide legal opinions in a money laundering case. During a Supreme Court session, Attorney General R. Venkataramani stated that all investigation agencies have been instructed not to repeat this error in the future.
“Guidelines will be established to prevent such instances,” the Attorney General informed the bench, which included Chief Justice B. R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran. The Supreme Court was addressing a suo motu case about the summons, which were later retracted.
Chief Justice Gavai criticized the ED officers for overstepping their boundaries, asserting, “They must understand that communication between a lawyer and their client is protected by law.”
