India, Nov. 26 -- Assets linked to online cricket betting can be treated as "proceeds of crime" and seized by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), even though betting itself is not a scheduled offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Delhi High Court has held.

The ruling came in a case involving a large betting network that operated through Betfair.com and allegedly generated about INR 2,400 Cr. The ED told the court that the network relied on forged documents, fake SIM cards and hawala channels, which are scheduled offences under the money laundering act.

Using unlawful methods to run the betting operation makes the money and property generated through it tainted, the court said.

The petitioners had challenged ED'...