The Delhi High Court on Friday directed the Enforcement Directorate to refrain from taking any coercive action against Telugu Desam Party leader Y Satyanarayana Chowdary in a money laundering case, ANI reported. The court, however, asked Chowdary to appear before the agency on December 3.

The directions were issued after the former Union minister filed a petition in the court seeking the dismissal of the directorate’s summons, issued on November 24 and November 26.

The summons were issued after the agency raided his residence on November 23 and seized six luxury cars registered in the names of fake companies. The vehicles were seized under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Chowdary has claimed that he is being harassed at the instance of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government. Earlier this week, he had accused the Enforcement Directorate of “spreading slander” against him.

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“The group I have mentored is law-abiding and fully compliant with all regulations,” News18 quoted him as saying on Friday. “The Enforcement Directorate says the group defrauded banks to the tune of Rs 5,700 crore. It’s not defrauding, it’s outstanding with banks.”

The searches conducted by the directorate on November 23 reportedly revealed that the Sujana Group of companies have defrauded banks to the tune of more than Rs 5,700 crore. According to the directorate, “all directors of various Sujana Group of companies act under his [Chowdary’s] instructions” and the former minister is linked to a number of shell companies. The group reportedly controls more than 120 companies, most of which exist only on paper.

On Thursday, the BJP filed a petition before the Rajya Sabha ethics committee calling for the disqualification of Chowdary and fellow Telugu Desam Party leader CM Ramesh for alleged corruption. BJP parliamentarian GVL Narasimha Rao claimed that the two leaders are close to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and may be operating at his behest.