Enforcement Directorate matters arise principally under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, and the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, and involve investigation, summons, attachment, and adjudication by the Directorate. Afentis Legal represents individuals and entities in responding to ED summons, defending against attachment and adjudication, and challenging the Directorate’s action before the appellate and constitutional forums. The practice addresses both the money-laundering and the foreign-exchange dimensions of the Directorate’s mandate.
The firm approaches ED matters with attention to the boundary between the Directorate’s investigative powers and the rights of those it summons and investigates. The response to summons, the conduct during recording of statements, and the challenge to coercive action are handled with precision, recognising that the early stages of an ED proceeding often determine its later course. The firm’s economic-offences and revenue depth allows it to engage the financial substance of the Directorate’s allegations.
Service Spectrum
- Representation in response to ED summons and during recording of statements
- Defence against provisional attachment and challenges before the Adjudicating Authority
- Proceedings under FEMA, including adjudication and appeal
- Appeals before the Appellate Tribunal and writ proceedings before the High Courts
- Bail and protection against arrest in PMLA matters investigated by the ED
- Challenges to search, seizure, and coercive investigative action
- Coordination of ED defence with parallel criminal and regulatory proceedings
- Special Leave Petitions before the Supreme Court
Firm’s Approach
The firm’s advantage in ED matters is the combination of trial-tested criminal defence with regulatory and foreign-exchange expertise. Its former revenue officers and regulatory advisors allow the defence to contest the financial and transactional foundations of the Directorate’s case, while its constitutional and writ capability supports challenges to attachment and coercive action. Matters are managed as coordinated proceedings, ensuring consistency across the ED investigation, any predicate prosecution, and parallel regulatory action.