Nagpur: The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court has dismissed the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) against Pankaj Mehadia, a steel trader accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). 

The petitioners in the case include Pankaj Nandlal Agrawal (Mehadia), Balmukund Lalchand Keyal, Premlata Nandlal Mehadia, and Kartik Santosh Jain. The respondents are the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, the Directorate of Enforcement in Nagpur, and the Sitabuldi Police Station in Nagpur. 

The High Court's decision was based on the argument that the ECIR filed by the Enforcement Directorate lacked valid grounds after the quashing of a related First Information Report (FIR) under the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act (MPIDA). 

The court emphasized that for PMLA charges to hold, there must be a proven predicate offence, which was not present after the nullification of the MPIDA charges. The petitioners' counsel cited the Indrani Patnaik Vs. Enforcement Directorate case, arguing that the ECIR was irrelevant following the dismissal of the related FIR and chargesheet in August 2023.