https://www.taxtmi.com/css/info/rss_sitemap/rss_feed.css?v=1746094055 https://www.taxtmi.com Business/Tax/Law/GST/India/Taxation/Policies/Legal/Corporate Tax/Personal Tax/Vat Law/Legal Information/Tax Information/Legal Services/Tax Services Tax Management India. Com / MS Knowledge Processing Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. One stop solution for Direct Taxes and Indirect Taxes https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=460813 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=460813 Seeking grant of regular bail u/s 483 of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, read with Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) - predicate offence - applicability and interpretation of Section 45 of the PMLA - HELD THAT:- In the present case, the predicate offence has been registered against the applicant by ACB/EOW, Raipur Chhattisgarh under 120-B, 420,467,468,471 of IPC and Section 7 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act which are schedule offences included in Paragraphs 1 8 of Part-A of the Schedule to PMLA, 2002 as defined under Section 2(1)(y) of the Act. The predicate offence FIR; documents including the statements recorded u/s. 50 of PMLA, 2002 shared by Mr. Thandi Lal Meena, Assistant Director, Prosecution Complaint filed by the IT and the date shared by the Income Tax Department were analyzed by the ED. From the statements of the witnesses who had reaffirmed their statements given in the earlier ECIR 11 it has come into fact that a well planned systematic conspiracy was executed by the syndicate to earn illegal commission in the sale and licensing of liquor in the State of Chhattisgarh. From the investigation by the ED it has been revealed that CSMCL was used by the syndicate to enforce a parallel excise department which comprises of senior bureaucrats of State, politicians and officials of Excise Department. The applicant was leading the CSMCL and was the MD of the organization. It has been further revealed that the applicant was assigned with the task of maximizing the bribe commission collected on liquor procured by M/s. CSMCL and for making necessary arrangement for sale of non duty paid liquor in the CSMCL run shops. In the instant case, after investigation by the ED, it has come to notice that the placement of the applicant as the head of M/s. CSMCL and Special Secretary in State Excise Department being an influential person and close to senior bureaucrats, masterminds of the present liquor syndicate earned profits. The applicants direct involvement in the commission and execution of the entire scam has been investigated wherein extortion of commission from the sale of unaccounted liquor could be attributed - The applicant is alleged to have conspired with M/s. Prizm Holography by lowering the tender conditions and ensured supply of lacs of duplicate holograms which were required to make the1liquor look real liquor. It is the case of prosecution that a criminal syndicate comprising of high level State Government officials, private persons and political executives of the State Government were operating in the State of Chhattisgarh and collecting illegal bribe from the State Departments and State Public Sector undertakings by sale of liquor which is one of the major source of their illegal earning. In the initial investigation, it has come into account that there was massive corruption in the Excise Department of Chhattisgarh since the year 2019 - it cannot be said that no prima facie ofence whatsoever is made against the applicant. After carefully analyzing the material available on record which goes to show that there is prima facie involvement of the applicant in the crime in question and the charge sheet has been filed. Since, the allegations against the petitioner were serious nature therefore there was material to infer his involvement in serious crimes. Conclusion - Taking into consideration the facts and circumstances of the case, and taking into account the nature and gravity of the offence, the role of the applicant herein, the manner in which he is alleged to have conspired with other co-accused persons and thereby was part of a syndicate and involved in the illegal earning by assisting in providing duplicate holograms, transferring funds to foreign lands, charged with economic offences of huge magnitude and considering the nature of charge and gravity of offence, the applicant is charged, which is extremely serious and looking to the special and stringent provision under Section 45(1) of the PMLA for grant of bail, in the considered opinion of this Court, it is not proper to order release of present applicant on regular bail. The prayer for bail made by the applicant under Section 483 of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) read with Section 45 of the PMLA, is hereby rejected. Case-Laws Money Laundering Fri, 25 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0530