Facts: The petitioners alleged illegal detention by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from January 4 to January 8, 2024, during a search and seizure operation at their residences. The ED withdrew its petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court's order that quashed the arrest of former Yamunanagar MLA Dilbag Singh in a money laundering case. At the start of the hearing, ASG S.V. Raju informed the three-judge Bench that the ED did not wish to pursue the petition but requested the Court to keep the question of law open. Consequently, the Court dismissed the SLP as withdrawn while preserving the legal question.

Issue: Can the ED restrain a person's movements during a search?

Observation: The High Court's Single-Judge Bench ruled that individuals whose premises are being searched cannot be prevented from conducting their daily routines. It held that the ED does not have the authority to restrain the movements of the petitioners within their premises. The Supreme