Glossary
ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report)
The record by which the Directorate of Enforcement opens a case under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002, which the Supreme Court has held is not an FIR.
An ECIR, or Enforcement Case Information Report, is the record the Directorate of Enforcement makes when it begins an investigation under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002. In Vijay Madanlal Choudhary v. Union of India, decided on 27 July 2022, the Supreme Court held that an ECIR is not a first information report and that it need not be supplied to the person concerned.
What follows an ECIR is where a company feels it. A summons under section 50 binds the person summoned to attend, to state the truth and to produce documents, and the Court held in 2022 that Article 20(3) does not protect a person at that stage. An arrest under section 19 is more tightly held: in 2024 the Court required written grounds of arrest in every case and read reason to believe as a conviction of the mind founded on evidence, including evidence that points the other way. The position is stated as at 21 September 2026.
Used in
Sources
- ActThe Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 (No. 15 of 2003)enforcementdirectorate.gov.inOn this site: The Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002
- JudgmentVijay Madanlal Choudhary v. Union of India (Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 4634 of 2014, 27 July 2022), Supreme Court of Indiaapi.sci.gov.in
- JudgmentArvind Kejriwal v. Directorate of Enforcement (2024 INSC 512, 12 July 2024), Supreme Court of Indiaapi.sci.gov.in
- JudgmentPrabir Purkayastha v. State (NCT of Delhi) (2024 INSC 414, 15 May 2024), Supreme Court of Indiaapi.sci.gov.in
Cite this termECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report). Juris Eagle glossary. Stated as at 21 September 2026. https://juriseagle.com/glossary/ecir