Bona fide purchase and source of funds must be tested on evidence before the PMLA forum; status quo on properties maintained.

Questions of bona fide purchase and the source of funds for the attached properties were treated as factual matters requiring evidence and cross-examination, and were therefore left for determination by the Special Judge under the PMLA rather than decided in the appellate proceedings. The Tribunal did not adjudicate the merits of the appellants' claim, allowed them to pursue the issue before that forum, and directed that status quo be maintained over the properties pending such determination.

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Issues: Whether the question of the appellants' bona fide purchase of the attached properties and the source of funds used for the purchase should be decided in the present proceedings or by the Special Judge under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, and whether the appeals should be disposed of with liberty to pursue the claim before that forum.

Analysis: The dispute turned on factual questions concerning whether the first appellant was a bona fide purchaser and whether the sale consideration was derived from proceeds of crime. Those questions required examination of evidence and cross-examination of witnesses, which were considered matters for determination before the Special Judge PMLA Court rather than in the present appellate proceedings. In the meantime, preservation of the subject properties was directed by maintaining status quo over ownership.

Conclusion: The Tribunal declined to decide the merits of bona fide purchase and source of funds in these appeals and permitted the appellants to pursue their claim before the Special Judge PMLA Court, while maintaining status quo regarding the properties.

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