The Patna High Court, in its detailed order, delivered a sharp critique of the Enforcement Directorate’s reliance on the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against IAS officer Sanjeev Hans. The court observed that the very foundation of the ED’s case—the predicate FIR (Rupaspur P.S. Case No. 18/2023)—had already been quashed by the High Court in August 2024. Crucially, Justice Chandra Prakash Singh noted that the ED failed to place conclusive or independent material on record to establish any financial trail, or to show that Hans was in possession of or had dealt with any “proceeds of crime.”