NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued internal guidelines ordering officers not to question people at “unnatural” hours and not make them wait for hours in their office, the agency said on Tuesday .

For the elderly or the sick or infirm, the internal circular asks officers to “strictly” restrict the recording of statements during land hours or office hours.

The circular was issued on October 11, months after the Bombay High Court in April ordered the federal agency to issue directions while it considered a petition by an individual who had been summoned and detained for at night and questioned.

A 64-year-old businessman had complained to the High Court that his statement was recorded during the night, depriving him of the “right to sleep” under Article 21 (right to live with dignity ) of the Constitution.

A bench comprising Justices Prithviraj K Chavan and Revati Mohite Dere upheld the arrest but directed ED to put in place time limits for recording statements under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act ‘money. He also asked the ED to publish this circular on its website and X handle.

The issue was also raised before the Supreme Court on September 21, when the top court criticized the agency for its “unforgivable” act of calling people at short notice, keeping them up all night and stop the next day. “There is something called Article 21 of the Indian Constitution (right to life and liberty) of citizens. It is unforgivable and simply unacceptable to interrogate a person all night and take them into custody the next day. This is simply not being done,” Supreme Court Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih said following a petition filed by a retired IAS officer from Chhattisgarh.

The circular issued by ED states that the authorized officer or IO (investigator) of ED should be well prepared with copies of documents to be confronted along with a questionnaire to examine the summoned person on the appointed date and time.

“The IO, while fixing the date and time for the execution of the summons, must ensure that the person thus summoned is presented for examination at the time and on the date fixed, without making him wait for hours,” he says.

The circular adds that considering the nature of the offense of money laundering, in which a person can transfer or conceal the proceeds of crime or destroy digital evidence within a short period of time using tools online or using a mobile phone or other digital media, the IO “will endeavor to conclude the hearing of the person summoned as soon as possible, ideally the same day or the next day”.

“This approach can minimize the possibility of the summoned person transferring or concealing the proceeds of crime or fabricating imaginary and concocted explanations,” he said.

The circular adds that “efforts should be made to record the statement of the person summoned during land hours, i.e. during office hours rather than extending it too late into the night.”

“In the case of the elderly, persons suffering from a serious health problem, sick or infirm (subject to verification of medical records or state of health), should be limited to terrestrial hours and that it would be appropriate to adjourn the examination to the next date or any other mutual date. date agreed in practice,” adds the circular.

However, in exceptional circumstances, the circular said, when the IO has credible information or documents that the person, if allowed to leave without completing the examination, will dispose of the proceeds of crime or destroy the evidence or the person’s past behavior.

summoned, absconding or not joining the investigation, the IO may record the statement “beyond earthly hours” after recording this reason on file and obtaining approval from a superior officer.