Prayagraj (UP), Jul 17 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court has transferred a probe against former MLC Haji Iqbal alias Bala in connection with an alleged Rs 6.33-crore real-estate fraud from the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (UP STF) to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO).

A bench of Justices Chandra Dhari Singh and Lakshmi Kant Shukla refused to quash the FIR, noting that doing so would leave the complainant remediless.

Transferring the probe, the court noted that the SFIO had already investigated a broader fraud involving Iqbal and a network of shell companies, and that the present FIR and the company named therein form part of the same network.

Refusing to quash the FIR relating to a specific investor's grievance, the court on Thursday disposed of a writ petition filed by Iqbal and directed that the investigation against the petitioner be transferred to the SFIO to ensure a single, specialised and comprehensive probe, thereby preventing conflicting investigations and preserving the integrity of the criminal process.

The court reaffirmed that quashing an FIR remains an exceptional remedy and clarified that where a complainant's individual transaction has not been examined by the SFIO, the grievance must still be investigated.

The bench added that if the STF was allowed to continue with its parallel investigation into the same corporate network that is already being probed by the SFIO and is now before a special court in Delhi, it would fragment what is in substance a single and indivisible scheme of fraud.

Naved Ahmad filed a complaint in 2023, alleging that between December 2013 and March 2014, he transferred Rs 6.33 crore to Enchant Infrastructure Private Limited for the development of a real-estate plot in Greater Noida.

However, no construction was undertaken on the plot thereafter. The company also failed to keep up with the installment payments due to the Greater Noida Authority. Consequently, in August 2022, the authority cancelled the allotment of the plot, citing outstanding dues of around Rs 29 crore, against which only an amount of around Rs 4.5 crore was paid.

Meanwhile, a petition was filed before the Supreme Court in 2015 raising concerns about alleged financial irregularities and shell-company operations linked to the petitioner.

The apex court directed the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to sanction an SFIO investigation into the affairs related to the petitioner. On completing its probe, the SFIO filed a complaint before the Special Judge, Dwarka Court, New Delhi.

The SFIO complaint arrayed Iqbal as the first accused and identified him as the alleged directing will and mind of the group's operations. According to the SFIO, a sum of Rs 610.3 crore is alleged to have been systematically routed through 84 accused entities under investigation, each a shell company with no genuine operational activity for the purpose of acquiring land, real estate and sugar mills and channelising funds to the petitioner -- Iqbal's Abdul Waheed Educational and Charitable Trust. PTI COR RAJ RC

Consolidated fraud investigation requires specialised inquiry where an investor complaint forms part of an alleged shell-company network. A fraud investigation concerning an alleged real-estate investment scheme was transferred to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office because the named company was stated to be part of a wider alleged shell-company network already under its examination. The FIR was not quashed, as the complainant's individual transaction had not been investigated. A single specialised inquiry was considered necessary to prevent fragmented or conflicting investigations into an allegedly indivisible fraud scheme.