The Supreme Court has restrained the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from accessing or copying data from electronic devices, including laptops and mobile phones, seized during searches on “lottery king” Santiago Martin, his relatives, and employees in November.
The ED conducted the searches across six states following a complaint by Meghalaya Police, which alleged that Martin’s company, Future Gaming and Hotel Services, had illegally monopolized the lottery business in the state. The raids led to the seizure of ₹12.4 crore in cash.
In an interim order issued on December 13, a bench comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Pankaj Mithal directed the Future Gaming case to be heard alongside other matters involving the seizure of electronic devices, The Indian Express reported.
The four cases listed in Future Gaming’s plea include those filed by petitioners in the NewsClick case, who are seeking guidelines from the court on the seizure of mobile phones and laptops by Delhi Police in October 2023, and Amazon India employees challenging the ED’s demands to surrender their digital devices.
The petitioners have argued that such actions violate their fundamental right to privacy.
The Supreme Court specifically directed the ED not to access or copy the contents of Martin’s mobile phone or other electronic devices belonging to Future Gaming employees.
Additionally, the bench stayed the summons issued by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) that sought “extraction of data” stored in the devices.
The court’s order could set a significant precedent, according to lawyer Rohini Musa, who filed the petition for Future Gaming. Speaking to The Indian Express, Musa emphasized the potential impact of the ruling on similar cases involving the protection of privacy rights.
“The first thing is the Supreme Court has not given a date for the restraint against the ED to be lifted. The other thing is besides the infringement of fundamental rights and the rights of privacy, it should be ensured the ED does not embark on a fishing expedition, and does not force the petitioner [Santiago Martin] to incriminate himself in this and other cases via the material found in the electronic devices,” Musa told the newspaper.
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