Provisional attachment cannot survive after final acquittal in the scheduled offence and discharge in PMLA proceedings.

Where the scheduled offence ended in a final acquittal and the accused were discharged in the PMLA complaint under Section 227 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, continuation of provisional attachment could not be sustained. The finality of the acquittal and the unchallenged discharge meant no further merits examination was necessary in relation to the attachment. The appeals were therefore allowed, the impugned order was set aside, and the provisional attachment was quashed with release of the attached properties.

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Issues: Whether the appeals against the provisional attachment order deserved to be allowed after the scheduled offence ended in acquittal and the PMLA complaint ended in discharge.

Analysis: The main accused in the scheduled offence had been acquitted and that judgment had attained finality. The appellants had also been discharged in the PMLA complaint under Section 227 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and no challenge to that discharge was shown to be pending. In these circumstances, no further merits examination was necessary, and the continuation of the attachment could not be sustained.

Conclusion: The appeals were allowed, the impugned order was set aside, and the provisional attachment was quashed with release of the attached properties.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the scheduled offence has ended in a final acquittal and the accused has also been discharged in the PMLA proceedings, the attachment based on those proceedings cannot survive.

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