Indian court orders release of Gameskraft founders, rules ED arrests unlawful
The Karnataka High Court said the Enforcement Directorate failed to justify the arrests of three Gameskraft executives with new evidence, while allowing the money laundering investigation to continue.
India.- The Karnataka High Court has ordered the immediate release of Gameskraft founders Deepak Singh, Vikas Taneja and Prithviraj Singh, ruling that their arrests by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) were not carried out in accordance with the law.
The three executives, who were arrested in May as part of a money laundering investigation linked to the online gaming company, had challenged the legality of their detention before the court.
Justice M Nagaprasanna said the ED failed to present fresh material justifying the arrests. The court noted that the agency had already investigated similar allegations months earlier and had not considered an arrest necessary at that stage
In its order, the court said that the registration of a new enforcement case could not by itself justify arrest when the underlying allegations and evidence remained substantially unchanged. It also found that no new incriminating material had emerged from searches carried out before the executives were taken into custody.
The case is linked to Gameskraft’s real-money gaming operations, including platforms offering games such as rummy, poker and ludo. The ED alleges that the company engaged in unfair practices, misled users and generated proceeds of crime that were later laundered through various financial transactions.
During the hearings, the court observed that the ED had not issued summonses to the executives before arresting them and said the agency had other legal mechanisms available to secure their cooperation with the investigation.
While declaring the arrests unlawful, the High Court clarified that the ED remains free to continue its investigation and may issue summonses or take further action in accordance with the law.
