Regular bail not maintainable without formal custody; production warrants recalled in a money laundering proceeding.

Regular bail under Section 439 CrPC was treated as not presently maintainable where the petitioners had not been formally arrested or taken into custody in the money laundering complaint. On that basis, the bail applications were dismissed as infructuous. As the complaint had been filed without arrest, the production warrants issued by the trial court were also recalled and directed not to continue operating against the petitioners. Release from jail was to follow if they were not required in any other case.

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Issues: Whether the bail applications were infructuous as the petitioners had not been formally taken into custody in the money laundering case, and whether the production warrants issued by the trial court were liable to be recalled.

Analysis: The petitioners had not been formally arrested in the proceeding under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, though production warrants had been issued after filing of the complaint. In that situation, the applications for regular bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 were treated as not presently maintainable because the petitioners had yet not been taken into formal custody in the case. Since the complaint had been filed without arrest, the court also directed that the production warrants issued by the trial court should not continue to operate against them.

Conclusion: The bail applications were dismissed as infructuous, the production warrants were recalled, and release from jail was directed if the petitioners were not required in any other case.

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