Bail entitlement under PMLA Section 45 upheld where transactions lacked link to proceeds; bail granted with bond and sureties

Entitlement to bail under PMLA Section 45 requires the accused to show absence of a prima facie offence; the burden lies on the applicant and the High Court may consider regular bail in PMLA proceedings. The court found transactional evidence (a Rs.10 lakh transfer by the applicant and earlier Rs.3 lakh received) was not linked to recovered proceeds and the Enforcement Directorate had not questioned the Rs.3 lakh receipt; therefore no prima facie link to moneylaundering was made and bail was granted. The decision relied on comparative Supreme Court relief granted to the main accused and ordered release on personal bond and sureties.

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Issues: Whether the applicant (accused) Pradeep Parashar is entitled to regular bail in respect of alleged offences under Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and Section 45 PMLA.

Analysis: The applicant produced bank records showing transfer of Rs.10,00,000 to the co-accused prior to the REET 2021 examination and earlier receipts of Rs.3,00,000 before the examination; a later deposit of Rs.3,00,000 also occurred but the earlier transactions are temporally antecedent to the alleged offence and have not been linked by the Enforcement Directorate to the alleged paper-leak offence. A charge-sheet has been filed and the applicant has been in custody for an extended period. The principal accused (co-accused) obtained bail from the Supreme Court; the factual matrix and the lack of linkage between the prior transactions and the alleged proceeds of crime were relevant to the bail assessment. Section 45 PMLA places on the accused the burden to show absence of a prima facie case; taking into account the applicant's evidence regarding earlier transactions, the fact of lengthy custody, and the Supreme Court's grant of bail to the main accused, the statutory pre-condition for denial of bail was not satisfied on the material before the court.

Conclusion: The applicant's bail petition is allowed; the applicant is entitled to be released on bail upon furnishing a personal bond of Rs.50,000 and two sureties of Rs.25,000 each to the satisfaction of the trial court.

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