Businessman Raj Kundra has moved the Bombay High Court seeking to set aside a special court’s order taking cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) supplementary prosecution complaint and the summons issued to him in an alleged Bitcoin-linked money laundering case.
The petition, filed before Justice Ashwin D Bhobe, questions the legality of the January 5 order passed by the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court, along with the summons issued to Kundra on January 7. The matter is scheduled to be heard on August 6.
Kundra has contended that the special court acted in violation of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) by taking cognisance of the supplementary complaint without first granting him an opportunity to present his case. He has argued that Section 223(1) of the BNSS requires a court to hear an accused before taking cognisance in such circumstances.
The proceedings arise from the ED’s investigation into the alleged GainBitcoin cryptocurrency fraud. While the agency filed its original prosecution complaint in 2019, Kundra was added as an accused only through a supplementary complaint submitted in September 2025.
According to the ED, Kundra received 285 Bitcoins from alleged GainBitcoin promoter Amit Bhardwaj during July and August 2017 for a proposed Bitcoin mining venture in Ukraine. The agency alleges that the project never took off, but Kundra retained the Bitcoins, which are currently estimated to be worth around Rs 150.47 crore.
The ED has further claimed that Kundra did not disclose the cryptocurrency wallet addresses where the Bitcoins were allegedly stored despite being given multiple opportunities during the investigation. It has also alleged that the sale of the “Ocean View” apartments in Mumbai’s Juhu area was structured to conceal the proceeds of crime.
Through the present petition, Kundra has urged the High Court to quash both the special court’s cognisance order and the summons issued against him, contending that the proceedings were initiated without following the procedure prescribed under the BNSS.
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