19 hours ago
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The High Court of Karnataka has declared arsenic contrary to instrumentality the apprehension of Deepak Singh, Vikas Taneja and Prithviraj Singh, directors of Gameskraft Technologies Pvt. Ltd., by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) successful May pursuing searches conducted successful transportation with an alleged fraud-linked wealth laundering case, and ordered their merchandise from prison.
The tribunal recovered that the ED had arrested them without issuing them summons nether Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Launder (PML) Act. Also, the tribunal said that determination was nary caller worldly to apprehension them arsenic they were not arrested contempt searching their premises for a week during November 2025 connected the aforesaid acceptable of allegations based connected which the searches were conducted again connected May 7-8, 2026.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the bid connected June 16 portion allowing the petitions filed by Deepak Singh, laminitis and main enforcement officer, Vikas Taneja and Prithviraj Singh, directors of the company, challenging lone the legality of their apprehension by the ED.
Can beryllium summoned
However, the tribunal made it “abundantly wide that the statutory powers vested successful the ED nether Section 50 of the PML Act stay wholly unaffected, and it shall beryllium unfastened to the ED to contented summons and proceed further successful accordance with law, should the circumstances truthful warrant.”
The tribunal noted that the ED had antecedently conducted extended searches betwixt November 18 and 25, 2025 by registering an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) based connected a FIR registered by the Bengaluru constabulary successful 2024 connected a ailment lodged by a idiosyncratic of company’s online gaming platforms for alleged nonaccomplishment of ₹3 crore. At that time, the tribunal pointed out, the ED did not deem apprehension of the petitioners was necessary.
Also, the tribunal noted the probe against this ECIR was stayed by the High Court successful January 2026 arsenic the institution pointed retired that the Bengaluru constabulary had filed ‘B’ study successful the lawsuit arsenic the institution had settled the lawsuit with the complainant.
New ECIR
However, the ED registered a caller ECIR successful connected February 23, 2026, based connected 3 FIRs registered antithetic constabulary stations successful Telangana connected the aforesaid allegations of nonaccomplishment owed to usage of company’s gaming platforms betwixt 2017 and August 2015, erstwhile the institution stopped cognition of its gaming platforms pursuing enactment of Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, the tribunal noted.
Also, the tribunal noted the ED neither summoned the petitioners for participating successful the probe contempt registration of caller ECIR successful February 2026 nor conducted searches of their premises till May.
The caller grounds for arrest, served to the petitioners aft searches conducted connected May 7-8, were simply repackaged the aforesaid aged allegations from earlier ECIR.
Stale material
“...the effort to warrant apprehension connected the spot of worldly already successful possession of the ED from earlier proceedings runs contrary to the precise architecture of Section 19(1) of the PML Act. The proviso contemplates an appraisal of the worldly disposable astatine the clip of arrest; it does not countenance the resurrection of stale worldly to manufacture a caller justification for deprivation of liberty. Section 19 [power to arrest] is not elastic capable to licence apprehension connected recycled suspicion erstwhile nary caller incriminating worldly has emerged,” Justice Nagaprasanna observed.
“If the earlier ECIR, fortified by hunt and seizure operations dispersed implicit respective days, did not transportation the ED that the apprehension of the petitioners was either warranted oregon necessary, it is hard to fathom however the precise aforesaid material, simply paraphrased and transplanted into a caller ECIR, could abruptly get the potency to warrant their incarceration,” the tribunal said.
The ED had alleged that company’s gaming platforms manipulated gameplay, cheated users crores of rupees done deceptive practices, and proceeds were laundered via overseas investments, movable and immovable assets, etc.
