New Delhi, Feb. 20 -- Observing that ancestral or inherited property does not automatically get protection from attachment under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Delhi High Court has dismissed an appeal challenging the attachment of a residential property by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED).

A division bench of Justice Navin Chawla and Justice Ravinder Dudeja held that the law does not carve out any exception for ancestral properties.

The Court made it clear that if the original proceeds of crime are not traceable, authorities are empowered to attach an untainted property of equivalent value.

The High Court referred to the Supreme Court judgment in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary v. Union of India, which interpreted the t...