Provisional attachment under money-laundering law fails without independent evidence linking the person to alleged proceeds of crime.

Provisional attachment under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act was found unsustainable where the persons proceeded against were not shown as accused in the predicate charge-sheet and no independent evidence established a nexus between them and the alleged proceeds of crime. Custodial statements of co-accused and investigatory material alone were held insufficient, especially where the cash and jewellery were found in a joint family residence and a specific explanation was offered that the jewellery was stridhan and the cash came from lawful family sources. The attachment was set aside and the properties ordered to be released.

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Issues: Whether the confirmation of the provisional attachment of cash and jewellery under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 was sustainable against the appellants in the absence of cogent independent evidence linking them to the alleged scheduled offence and the alleged proceeds of crime.

Analysis: The attachment rested primarily on custodial statements of co-accused and on material said to have been gathered during investigation, but the appellants were not shown to be accused in the predicate charge-sheet. The record also showed that the seized cash and jewellery were found in a joint family residence and a specific explanation was offered that the jewellery belonged to married women as stridhan and that the cash belonged to different family members from their respective lawful sources. The Tribunal found that there was no independent material satisfactorily connecting the appellants to the alleged offence or justifying continued attachment, and that the impugned order did not properly address the appellants' submissions.

Conclusion: The confirmation of provisional attachment was unsustainable and was set aside in favour of the appellants.

Final Conclusion: The attached properties were ordered to be released and the appeals succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: A provisional attachment under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 cannot be sustained merely on uncorroborated statements or suspicion when no independent evidence establishes a nexus between the person proceeded against and the alleged proceeds of crime.

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