Return of seized records under money-laundering law is required when unrelied material is not needed for prosecution.

Seized documents and digital records under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act cannot be retained indefinitely where no incriminating material is identified and the unrelied material is not needed for the prosecution complaint. The statutory scheme in Sections 20(1), 21(3) and 8(3) contemplates return of seized records unless lawful retention is justified for the proceedings or eventual confiscation. Where the person concerned was not an accused in the predicate case or the complaint, continued custody was held unjustified. The appellant was therefore entitled to return of the unrelied originals, while photocopies and cloned copies could be retained for ongoing investigation.

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Issues: Whether the seized documents and digital records could continue to be retained by the Enforcement Directorate, and whether the appellant was entitled to return of the material not relied upon in the prosecution complaint.

Analysis: The retention of seized records under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act is not meant to continue indefinitely. The order noted that the appellant was not an accused in the predicate case or in the prosecution complaint, and the respondent did not identify any incriminating material in the seized documents or digital record. The statutory scheme under Section 20(1) and Section 21(3) contemplates return of seized records unless retention is permitted, and Section 8(3) permits retention only in relation to the proceedings and eventual confiscation. Since the material had remained with the Enforcement Directorate for a long period and no basis was shown for retaining the unrelied material, continued custody was not justified.

Conclusion: The appellant was entitled to return of the unrelied documents and digital records, while the Enforcement Directorate was allowed to retain photocopies and cloned copies for further investigation.

Final Conclusion: The appeal resulted in a direction for partial release of the seized material in favour of the appellant, with preservation of copies for the investigation.

Ratio Decidendi: Seized records under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act cannot be retained indefinitely when no incriminating material is shown and the unrelied material is not required for the prosecution complaint, though copies may be retained for ongoing investigation.

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