Statutory composition of the Adjudicating Authority requires a...

Statutory composition of the Adjudicating Authority requires a legally constituted Bench; absent an evidence-based finding that a Chairperson-only Bench was validly constituted, its adjudication is coram non judice and a nullity. The authority must identify the relevant property and record a prima facie finding that it is involved in money-laundering; a need to retain or freeze property for adjudication cannot replace that finding. Bank accounts or business turnover alone are not proceeds of crime without a reasoned nexus to scheduled-offence criminal activity. An appellate body cannot supply this omitted foundational finding. Non-communication of reasons to believe also breaches statutory safeguards, vitiating freezing and retention proceedings. The impugned order was quashed without deciding whether any offence was committed.