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2023 (2) TMI 42
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....a on their behalf and on behalf of other consortium lenders for misappropriation and criminal breach of trust, manipulation of books of accounts through fictitious accounts and conversion of property against unknown public servants, for the offences punishable under Sections 120-B read with Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471 IPC and Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(d) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. (ii) The allegations levelled against the said Companies are that credit facilities were extended to those Companies to the tune of several crores at various stages from the year 1998. Later, due to macro-economic conditions, the Companies started facing severe liquidity issues and thereupon, restructure of liabilities was done and similarly short renewal of credit facilities was also made, however, the Companies had defaulted its interest servicing and repayment obligations to member banks and hence, the Companies were classified as Non Performing Asset (NPA) and the loans were recalled and notices were issued for invoking the personal guarantees of Promoters/Guarantors of the Companies and subsequently, the Companies were also liquidated. (iii) Subsequently, ....
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....e as required under Section 41A of Cr.P.C. ii) The predicate offences charged with are for conspiracy and forgery of documents whereas the grounds of arrest do not make any mention about the petitioner committing any such offence except acquiring the windmills of Surana Green Power Limited and Surana Corporation Limited in a public auction conducted by State Bank of India by obtaining loans from Sayso Exim Pvt. Ltd. M/s.Natural Coal Pvt. Ltd., and M/s.Tribhovan Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. iii) The petitioner had not approached any Banks seeking financial assistance and cheated the banks and hence, he is not connected with the alleged proceeds of crime and thus, he has not committed any offence under the PML Act. iv) Merely because windmills were acquired by Bell Tower Enterprises LLP through the funds arranged from other entities viz., M/s.Sayso Exim Pvt. Ltd. M/s.Natural Coal Pvt. Ltd., and M/s.Tribhovan Enterprises Pvt. Ltd, which had also been repaid, the petitioner has been falsely implicated in the case of money laundering without proving mens rea on the part of the petitioner. v) The petitioner is not an accused either in the private complaint lo....
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....ed an offence under the Act. The Court ought to maintain a delicate balance between a judgment of acquittal and conviction and an order granting bail much before commencement of trial. The duty of the Court at this stage is not to weigh the evidence meticulously but to arrive at a finding on the basis of broad probabilities. Further, the Court is required to record a finding as to the possibility of the accused committing a crime which is an offence under the Act after grant of bail." 5. The respondent has filed a detailed counter narrating the role of the petitioner in the offence and referring to the same, Mr.N.Ramesh, learned Special Public Prosecutor for ED cases would submit his arguments as under:- i) The total amount misappropriated by the three Companies viz., Surana Industries Limited, Surana Corporation Limited and Surana Power Limited is to the tune of Rs.3986.08 Crores. ii) The investigation conducted revealed that the above Companies, through its Directors/Promoters and other officials have indulged in manipulation of book of accounts, indulging in paper transactions with shell companies to inflate the turnover of companies in order to get more cre....
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....he Company and the Companies do not belong to him and he has a meager income and thereby he is not in a position to run such a big business, however, he had retracted from his statements before the Directorate. viii) By way of making such retractions and not revealing the true picture of the diverted proceeds of crime from Surana Group of Companies to the interlinked companies, he did not cooperate in the investigation to identify the proceeds of crime and establish the money trail. ix) By projecting himself as the legal owner of Bell Tower Enterprises LLP, the petitioner is not only trying to protect Shri Dinesh Chand Surana but also to project the properties in the name of Bell Tower Enterprises LLP as untainted properties and thus, it is a classic case of money laundering wherein all ingredients of the offence of money laundering viz., "placement", "layering" i.e., moving of funds to other institutions to conceal origin and "integration" i.e., funds used to acquire assets. x) During the course of investigation, a number of witnesses have spoken to the effect that the petitioner is a benami of Shri Dinesh Chand Surana and exclusively, Shri K.E.Devarajan....
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....pointing namesake Directors including the petitioner. xiv) The three Companies viz., M/s.Sayso Exim Pvt. Ltd., M/s.Thribhovan Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., and M/s.Natural Coal Pvt. Ltd. were used to launder money by Shri.Dinesh Chand Surana by making agreements for purchase of properties with one M/s.Kawarlal & Co and later, not registered the said agreements and the proceeds of crime were marked with M/s.Kawarlal & Co., and on enquiry, Shri.Ramlal, Proprietor of M/s.Kawarlal & Co had admitted that he was selling his properties to Shri Dinesh Chand Surana only, but, received the sale consideration from M/s.Sayso Exim Pvt. Ltd., M/s.Thribhovan Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., and M/s.Natural Coal Pvt. Ltd and the said Shri.Ramlal had some transactions with Bell Tower Enterprises LLP and he had stated that he had taken some unsecured loan as well as given loan to Bell Tower LLP as requested by Shri.Dinesh Chand Surana. xv) The above factual aspects reveal that the petitioner, being a money lender, had abetted Shri Dinesh Chand Surana in exercise of money laundering. xvi) Though the petitioner has been in very active connivance with the main accused in the offence of money ....
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....Power Limited (SPL) who have made bank borrowings and have been declared as Non Performing Assets (NPA) and are presently under liquidation, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC). Under IBC, the Liquidator had adjudicated the dues of the SIL, SCL and SPL and assessed a total liability of Rs.10,238 Crores. 8. Investigation into the scam had revealed that the Companies have made various false representations pertaining to revenue generation, share capital contribution and profitability of Surana GOC, based on which, public sector banks have lend monies to SIL, SCL & SPL and the total adjudicated financial liability of the three companies is Rs.10,238 Crores. The investigation has revealed various counts of siphoning of funds, diversion of funds and creation of assets utilizing siphoned out funds. The Companies had floated various shell, puppet Companies, Partnerships and Proprietorship by making its own employees as Directors, Partners and Proprietors respectively inside and outside India to siphon off crores of money to cause loss to the lending banks. 9. The investigation had revealed that the petitioner being a benami of the main accused Shri Dinesh Chand Surana had abe....
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.... of an offence punishable for a term of imprisonment of more than three years under Part A of the Schedule shall be released on bail or on his own bond unless- (i) the Public Prosecutor has been given an opportunity to oppose the application for such release; and (ii) where the Public Prosecutor opposes the application, the court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail: Provided that a person who is under the age of sixteen years or is a woman or is sick or infirm, may be released on bail, if the special court so directs: Provided further that the Special Court shall not take cognizance of any offence punishable under section 4 except upon a complaint in writing made by- (i) the Director; or (ii) any officer of the Central Government or State Government authorised in writing in this behalf by the Central Government by a general or a special order made in this behalf by that Government." 15. If the court finds a prima facie case against the accused, it cannot come to a satisfaction that there are reasonable grounds f....
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....iculars 1 4.4.2015 15,00,00,000 Surana Industries Ltd. 2 4.4.2015 7,25,00,000 Dinesh Chand Surana 3 4.4.2015 7,75,00,000 Dinesh Chand Surana 4 4.4.2015 10,00,00,000 21-318499 (SIL) 5 4.4.2015 5,10,00,000 Dinesh Chand Surana 6 4.4.2015 4,90,00,000 Dinesh Chand Surana 7 4.4.2015 8,30,00,000 Surana Industries Ltd. 8 4.4.2015 8,30,00,000 Dinesh Chand Surana 9 8.4.2015 4,39,70,000 Thribovan Enterprise 10 8.4.2015 2,29,65,000 Sayso Exim 11 8.4.2015 2,10,00,000 Sayso Exim 12 9.4.2015 2,80,23,000 Surana Industries Ltd. 13 9.4.2015 2,80,23,000 Vijay Raj Surana 14 10.4.2015 2,14,12,000 Surana Industries Ltd. 15 10.4.2015 2,14,12,000 Vijay Raj Surana 16 10.4.2015 51,42,000 Surana Industries Ltd. 17 10.4.2015 51,42,000 Vijay Raj Surana (B) M/s.Sayso Exim Pvt. Ltd. Sl. No. Date of tr....
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....36 2.1.2015 5,10,00,000 Surana Industries Ltd 37 6.7.2016 1,25,63,775 Surana Corporation Ltd 38 6.7.2016 1,20,14,200 Bell Tower Enterprise LLP 39 6.7.2016 10,52,000 Surana Industries Ltd (C) M/s.Thribovan Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. Sl. No. Date of transaction Debit amount Credit amount Particulars 1 3.4.2014 2,00,00,000 Surana Industries Ltd 2 3.4.2014 2,00,00,000 Vinayaga Infra 3 8.9.2014 2,30,00,000 Surana Industries Ltd 4 9.9.2014 2,30,00,000 Shri Balaji Khem Products 5 10.1.2015 4,05,00,000 Surana Industries Ltd 6 10.1.2015 3,00,000 Shri Balaji Khem Products 7 12.1.2015 4,02,00,000 Sayso Exim Pvt. Ltd. 8 23.1.2015 3,92,50,000 Surana Industries Ltd 9 23.1.2015 3,92,50,000 Vinayaga Infra 10 28.1.2015 4,80,00,000 Surana Industries Ltd 11 28.1.2015 4,80,00,000 Vinayaga Infra 12 29.1.2015 3,50,00,000 Surana Industries Ltd 13....
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..... (b) Layering : which is disguising the trail to foil pursuit. (c) Integration : which is making the money available to the criminal from what seem to be legitimate sources." 19. No doubt "bail is a rule and jail is an exception" and it has been time and again held by various courts that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to a procedure established by law. But, at the same time, the courts must strike a balance between the interest of the society in general and the right of an accused to personal liberty. It is relevant to note that in Masroor vs. State of Uttar Pradesh and another (2009) 14 SCC 286, it has been held as under:- "15. There is no denying the fact that the liberty of an individual is precious and is to be zealously protected by the courts. Nonetheless, such a protection cannot be absolute in every situation. The valuable right of liberty of an individual and the interest of the society in general has to be balanced. Liberty of a person accused of an offence would depend upon the exigencies of the case. It is possible that in a given situation, the collective interest of the community may outweigh....