Court Quashes Money Laundering Case: No Predicate Offence, No Charges Under PMLA 2002. The court allowed the Criminal Original Petition, quashing the ECIR proceedings under the PMLA, 2002, against the petitioner. The proceedings were based ...
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Court Quashes Money Laundering Case: No Predicate Offence, No Charges Under PMLA 2002.
The court allowed the Criminal Original Petition, quashing the ECIR proceedings under the PMLA, 2002, against the petitioner. The proceedings were based on a quashed FIR and final report in C.C.No.14 of 2019. The court held that without a valid predicate offence, money laundering charges cannot proceed. The decision aligned with the precedent set in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary and Others v. Union of India and Others, affirming that if a person is discharged or acquitted of the scheduled offence, there is no basis for a money laundering charge. Consequently, the ECIR No.CEZO-I/35/2020 was quashed.
Issues involved: Quashing of ECIR proceedings under PMLA, 2002 based on a quashed FIR and final report.
Summary:
Issue 1: Quashing of ECIR proceedings based on quashed FIR and final report The petitioner sought to quash the ECIR proceedings against him, which stemmed from an FIR registered in Crime No.7 of 2011, leading to a final report in C.C.No.14 of 2019, which was already quashed by the court. The respondent argued that under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA, 2002), a person can be prosecuted even if not accused in the predicate offence. However, the court observed that the allotment made in favor of the petitioner was never canceled, and the petitioner's request to surrender the allotment was declined. The court referred to previous judgments and held that once the FIR/Final Report related to the predicate offence is quashed, the proceedings under PMLA 2002 cannot proceed further. Citing the ruling in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary and Others v. Union of India and Others, the court concluded that if a person is discharged/acquitted of the scheduled offence or the criminal case against him is quashed, there can be no offence of money-laundering against him. Therefore, the court allowed the Criminal Original Petition and quashed the ECIR proceedings against the petitioner in ECIR No.CEZO-I/35/2020 dated 22.06.2020.
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