Statutory appellate remedy under PMLA prevails where the Tribunal can comprehensively hear the dispute and prevent conflicting rulings.

Where a constituted Appellate Tribunal can comprehensively examine a dispute arising from a provisional attachment under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the High Court may decline to entertain a writ petition and direct the parties to pursue the statutory appeal there. The matter was relegated to the Tribunal because related appeals were already pending before it, and a single forum was needed to avoid parallel proceedings and conflicting rulings. The writ and accompanying stay application were treated as an appeal and stay request before the Tribunal, while existing interim protection was continued until the Tribunal decided the stay application.

---

---

Issues: Whether the writ petition challenging the provisional attachment order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 should be entertained by the High Court or treated as an appeal to be considered by the Appellate Tribunal.

Analysis: The provisional attachment order and the consequential show-cause notice arose from the same money-laundering proceedings in which related appeals against earlier adjudication orders were already pending before the Appellate Tribunal. With the Tribunal now constituted, a comprehensive examination of the dispute by that forum was necessary to avoid multiplicity of proceedings and the risk of conflicting rulings. The Court therefore directed that the writ petition be treated as an appeal against the provisional attachment order and that the stay application filed before the Court be considered as a stay application before the Appellate Tribunal, while preserving the existing interim arrangements until the Tribunal decided the stay application.

Conclusion: The writ petition was not decided on merits and was relegated to the Appellate Tribunal for consideration as an appeal.

Final Conclusion: The dispute was transferred to the statutory appellate forum for adjudication, with interim protection continued pending decision by that forum.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an efficacious statutory appellate remedy is available before a constituted tribunal competent to examine the dispute comprehensively, the High Court may decline to entertain the writ and direct that the matter be pursued before that tribunal to avoid parallel proceedings and conflicting decisions.

---