Anticipatory bail in money laundering cases requires strict statutory compliance and cannot be granted as a matter of course.

Anticipatory bail under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 is an extraordinary remedy and must satisfy the statute's stringent restrictions. The HC treated money laundering as an economic offence affecting the financial fabric of society and examined the complaint material, investigation record, alleged proceeds of crime, and the requirements of Section 45. Finding a prima facie case and no basis to dilute the statutory rigour or accept false implication, it held that the accused-applicants were not entitled to anticipatory protection and rejected the applications.

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Issues: Whether the accused-applicants were entitled to anticipatory bail in a prosecution under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 in view of the material collected during investigation and the statutory rigour governing bail.

Analysis: Anticipatory bail is an extraordinary remedy to be granted sparingly and only where the Court is prima facie satisfied that the applicant has been falsely implicated and is unlikely to misuse liberty. Offences of money laundering are treated as economic offences affecting the financial fabric of society and therefore require a stricter approach. The Court considered the complaint material, the investigation record, the alleged proceeds of crime, and the mandate of Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, and found no basis to dilute the statutory restrictions or to hold that the applicants were entitled to anticipatory protection.

Conclusion: The applicants were not entitled to anticipatory bail and the applications were rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: In proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, anticipatory bail cannot be granted as a matter of course and must satisfy the stringent statutory conditions, particularly where the complaint and investigation disclose a prima facie case of money laundering and proceeds of crime.

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