Delhi High Court Directs ED To Release ₹1.54 Crore To Satyam Caterers Despite Pending PMLA Appeal

The Delhi High Court has directed the Directorate of Enforcement to release over ₹1.54 crore to Satyam Caterers Pvt Ltd, subject to a bank guarantee of an equivalent amount, in a money laundering case. The court held that the excess recovery could not be withheld solely because ED's separate appeal against the reduced quantification of proceeds of crime is pending.

A division bench of Justice Navin Chawla and Justice Ravinder Dudeja set aside an order of the Appellate Tribunal under SAFEMA, which had refused to release the excess amount to the company.

The case arose from an order passed by the Adjudicating Authority on March 11, 2025, which quantified the proceeds of crime attributable to Satyam Caterers at ₹3.08 crore. Before this, ED had already recovered ₹4.62 crore from the company's bank account pursuant to an earlier order dated December 3, 2018.

This meant ED had recovered ₹1.54 crore more than the amount quantified as proceeds of crime.

Satyam Caterers, while challenging the March 2025 adjudicating authority order before the appellate tribunal, also sought release of the excess amount. However, the tribunal rejected the plea on December 2, 2025, saying that since ED had separately challenged the reduction in the quantified proceeds of crime, granting relief to the company would render ED's appeal infructuous.

Challenging this refusal before the High Court, Satyam Caterers argued that it had partly succeeded before the adjudicating authority and was entitled to consequential relief. The company also offered to secure ED's interest by furnishing a bank guarantee equivalent to the disputed differential amount.

Rejecting the tribunal's reasoning, the High Court said the merits of ED's separate appeal had not even been considered prima facie. It noted that ED's appeal, or any application in that appeal seeking such interim protection, was not before the tribunal when it rejected Satyam Caterers' plea.

The bench held that the company, having partly succeeded through a reduction in the quantified proceeds of crime, was entitled to consequential relief unless a contrary order was passed in ED's own proceedings.

The court said the question of whether ED's challenge to the reduced quantification was prima facie meritorious would have to be decided separately in ED's appeal.

It accordingly directed ED to release ₹1.54 crore to Satyam Caterers, subject to the company furnishing a bank guarantee of an equivalent amount. The guarantee will remain subject to the outcome of ED's pending application or appeal before the tribunal.

As for the remaining ₹3.08 crore adjudicated as proceeds of crime, the court directed that the amount be kept in a fixed deposit, subject to the outcome of appeals filed by both parties.

The bench clarified that it had not expressed any opinion on the merits of either party's appeal or the interim stay application pending before the tribunal.

Accordingly, the appeal was disposed of.