Interim stay of ECIR proceedings where customs predicate offence and connected complaint arose from the same factual matrix.

ECIR proceedings under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, including the summons, were stayed qua the petitioner because the ECIR rested on a customs offence treated as the scheduled predicate offence, and the petitioner had already obtained relief in the related customs adjudication. With the connected complaint proceedings also stayed earlier and all three matters arising from the same factual matrix, the Court found a sufficient prima facie basis for interim protection. The submission that money-laundering is an independent offence did not displace that interim relief on the facts before the Court.

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Issues: Whether proceedings in the ECIR and the connected summons were required to be stayed qua the petitioner in view of the earlier orders affecting the underlying customs proceedings and the nature of the alleged predicate offence.

Analysis: The ECIR was recorded on the basis that the customs offence constituted a scheduled offence under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002. The petitioner had already secured relief in the related customs adjudication, and the connected complaint proceedings had been stayed earlier by the Court. In these circumstances, and considering that all three proceedings arose from the same factual matrix, the Court found a sufficient prima facie basis to protect the petitioner from continuation of the ECIR proceedings at that stage. The competing submission that money-laundering is an independent offence did not prevail on the facts of the case for interim relief.

Conclusion: The ECIR proceedings, including the summoning order, were stayed qua the petitioner till the next date of hearing.

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