TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (3) TMI 861
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.... the goods allegedly seized from the premises of the applicants and, at the time of submitting the charge-sheet in the predicate offence, the valuation of the alleged seized goods was not calculated while during the proceedings under PMLA the Enforcement Directorate has arbitrarily relied on the report of TEW Environmental Watch Reports as available on its website www.l egalserviceindia.com/articles/pooch . 3. It is vehemently submitted that the articles, which are alleged to have been recovered from the premises of the applicants, have not been property valued by the Enforcement Directorate or by the investigating agency and the report which has been made the basis of valuation is not an authenticated report, thus, in absence of proper valuation of the articles recovered from the premises of the applicant by a registered valuer and without any cogent evidence with regard to generation of proceeds of crime from these goods, the order, rejecting the discharge application of the applicants, has resulted into serious miscarriage of justice to the applicants. 4. It is vehemently submitted that ECIR of the instant case has been registered on the basis of schedule offence bearing F....
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....ants have been deposited (parked) in the bank-account of co-accused- Smt. Zaibunnisha, may not be believed. It is vehemently submitted that there is no material or evidence which may warrant framing of charges against the applicants and it is a case where the applicants should have been discharged and, thus, the trial/special court has committed a manifest illegality in passing the impugned orders and also by framing the charges against the applicants and, therefore, the impugned orders be set-aside and all the proceedings pending before the trial/special court be quashed. 7. On the other hand, Shri Rohit Tripathi, learned counsel for the respondent- Enforcement Directorate, vehemently submits that at the stage of framing of charges only a prima facie case and sufficient grounds are required to be seen and, it is not a stage where meticulous exercise of appreciating the material/evidence produced by the Enforcement Directorate should be made. It is also submitted that at the stage of framing of charge only sufficiency of evidence/material collected by the investigating agency should be assessed and probative value of such material could not be gone into at the stage of framing o....
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....of co-accused- Smt. Zaibunnisha (mother of the applicants) and the same has been used for the purpose of purchasing of some houses. 11. Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of State of Orissa Vs. Debendra Nath Padhi (2005) 1 SCC 568 has held as under: 6. At the stage of framing charge, the trial court is required to consider whether there are sufficient grounds to proceed against the accused. Section 227 of the Code provides for the eventuality when the accused shall be discharged. If not discharged, the charge against the accused is required to be framed under Section 228. .. 7. Similarly, in respect of warrant cases triable by Magistrates, instituted on a police report, Sections 239 and 240 of the Code are the relevant statutory provisions. Section 239 requires the Magistrate, to consider 'the police report and the documents sent with it under Section 173' and, if necessary, examine the accused and after giving accused an opportunity of being heard, if the Magistrate considers the charge against the accused to be groundless, the accused is liable to be discharged by recording reasons thereof. 8. What is to the meaning of the expression '....
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....tnesses as provided in Sub-section (5), discharge the accused if in the opinion of the Magistrate the evidence and documents disclosed no grounds for committing him for trial, as provided in Sub-section (6) and to commit the accused for trial after framing of charge as provided in Sub-section (7), summon the witnesses of the accused to appear before the court to which he has been committed as provided in Sub-section (11) and send the record of the inquiry and any weapon or other thing which is to be produced in evidence, to the Court of Session as provided in Subsection (14). The aforesaid Sections 207 and 207(a) have been omitted from the Code and a new Section 209 enacted on the recommendation of the Law Commission contained in its 41st Report. It was realised that the commitment inquiry under the old Code was resulting in inordinate delay and served no useful purpose. That inquiry has, therefore, been dispensed with in the Code with the object of expeditious disposal of cases. Instead of committal Magistrate framing the charge, it is now to be framed by Court of Session under Section 228 in case the accused is not discharged under Section 227. This change brought out in the code....
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...., thus, concluded that at the stage of Sections 227 and 228 stage the court is required to evaluate the material and documents on record with a view to find out if the facts emerging therefrom taken at their face value disclose the existence of all the ingredients constituting the alleged offence. The court may, for this limited purpose, sift the evidence as it cannot be expected even at that initial stage to accept all that the prosecution states as gospel truth even if it is opposed to common sense or the broad probabilities of the case. 14. Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of State of Supt. And Remembrancer of Legal Affairs, West Bengal Vs. Anil Kumar Bhunja and others (1979) 4 SCC 274 has held as under:- "18. It may be remembered that the case was at the stage of framing charges; the prosecution evidence had not yet commenced. The Magistrate had therefore, to consider the above question on a general consideration of the materials placed! before him by the investigating police officer. At this stage, as was pointed out by this Court in State of Bihar v. Ramesh Singh MANU/SC/0139/1977 : 1977CriLJ1606 , the truth, veracity and effect of the evidence which the pros....
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....e language employed in these provisions. But, in our opinion, notwithstanding these differences, and whichever provision may be applicable, the Court is required at this stage to see that there is a prima facie case for proceeding against the accused. Reference in this connection can be made to a judgment of this Court in the case of R.S. Nayak v. A.R. Antulay MANU/SC/0198/1986 : (1986) 2 SCC 716. The same reads as follows: 43...Notwithstanding this difference in the position there is no scope for doubt that the stage at which the magistrate is required to consider the question of framing of charge under Section 245(1) is a preliminary one and the test of "prima facie" case has to be applied. In spite of the difference in the language of the three sections, the legal position is that if the Trial Court is satisfied that a prima facie case is made out, charge has to be framed." 16. The above-mentioned law reports would demonstrate evidently that the duty of the trial court at the stage of discharge or framing of charges is to assess the sufficiency of the material for the purpose of framing of charges. It is also to be recalled that the sufficiency of evidence or materia....