[Vivo money laundering case] Delhi High Court directs ED to decide company's request to operate its bank accounts

The Delhi High Court on Friday directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to take a decision by July 13 on Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo's representation seeking permission to operate its frozen bank accounts..Justice Yashwant Varma also asked ED's counsel, Zoheb Hossain, to take instructions on Vivo's petition challenging freezing of its bank accounts. .The Chinese company approached the High Court challenging the ED's order of July 5 through which all its bank accounts were frozen. Senior Advocates Siddharth Luthra and Siddharth Aggarwal appearing for Vivo, argued that nine bank accounts that have been frozen and they hold nearly ₹250 crores. These accounts, the counsel argued, are essential to meet the company's statutory liabilities and support its 9,000 employees. “Today, without any concern about business model, source, where the money has come from, where it is going, a carte blanche order is place which will be my sudden death,” Aggarwal submitted..The ED opposed the plea stating that it was premature and that there is evidence to show that the firm earned nearly ₹1.20 lakh crore in the last two years but remitted nearly half of it to avoid paying taxes. Hossain submitted that there are some serious concerns regarding the functioning of Vivo and its associates companies. "This is a country-wide search. We have gone to 48 locations related to them. Searches at all but one location is complete... They are not even cooperating," Hossain submitted. .Over the week, ED had conducted searches at several locations related to Vivo and its associated companies like Oppo and Xiaomi in relation to a money laundering case.The agency took cognisance of a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing against a Vivo distributor based in Jammu and Kashmir. It was alleged that the shareholders in the distributor's company had forged documents to launder money.