AI Drafter 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (6) TMI 588
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....nos. 4634/2014) and Pankaj Bansal vs Union of India (Cr. Appeal nos. 3051 and 3052 of 2023) and declare that:- (i) The authorised person issuing Summon under Section 50(2) must record in writing the reasons why he considers necessary the attendance of person to whom Summon is issued: (ii) The writing recording the reason to belief that attendance is necessary before issuance of Summon under Section 50(2) must be dated, sealed and preserved so that the same be made available to the competent Court when called for; 1AA. Declare the arrest and consequent detention of the Petitioner as unwarranted, arbitrary, illegal and violative of the fundamental right of the petitioner guaranteed and protected under Article 21 of the Constitution of India and direct the Respondent to forthwith set the Petitioner free. 1AB. Declare the order dated 02.02.2024 passed by PMLA Court in the said proceeding sending the Petitioner for remand is arbitrary and illegal. b. Issue appropriate writ, order or direction to hold and declare the action of the respondents in issuing summons dated 7.8.23, 18.8.2023, 31.8.2023, 11.09.2023, 25.09.2023, 10.12.2023, 29.12.2023,....
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..... Interim and ad interim orders in terms of prayers above; j. Pass such other and further order or reliefs as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case." 2. The petitioner, a 2-time Chief Minister of Jharkhand, was arrested on the evening of 31st January 2024 by the Enforcement Directorate [in short, ED]. He has challenged the remand order dated 2nd February 2024 and, in connection thereto, questions the summons that does not provide any details of a predicate offence or any other information regarding his involvement with the proceeds of crime. He has pleaded that the ED is acting beyond its jurisdiction and summons are issued to him out of malice and to harass, humiliate and intimidate him. The ED started its expedition in October 2022 and issued a summons on 31st October 2022 seeking his explanation in the illegal mining case. That was followed by another summons dated 9th November 2022 on a similar allegation. In compliance thereof, he attended the office of the ED on 17th November 2022 for the recording of his statement. On that day, he was questioned about his assets for over nine hours and as required by the ED fu....
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.... 2023, 2nd January 2024 and 15th January 2024 and furnishing of the details of movable and immovable properties, details of Bank accounts and PAN number. The petitioner raises a question also to the jurisdiction of the ED to investigate the offence of money-laundering by starting a fresh inquiry into the assets acquired by him more than 15 years ago which were duly reported to and accepted by the Income Tax Authority as legally acquired property. The petitioner apprehends that this is part of the game plan of the BJP to wreck political vendetta against the Opposition leaders who have united to form INDIA Alliance in which he and his party are vocal participants. 5. In its affidavit-in-opposition, the ED referred to the raids conducted at several places on 13th April 2023 and 26th April 2023 in the course of which seventeen Register-II and eleven trunks full of tampered deeds and documents were seized. Several persons thereafter came forward and gave statements under section 50 of the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 [in short, "PMLA"] claiming themselves owners of the properties that were illegally grabbed by others. According to the ED, there are at least three persons ....
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.... information and available information in their domain, the entire land had been shown amongst several owners. * It was further stated by Shri Bhanu Pratap Prasad that the concerned original register II had been seized from his premises during searches dated 13.04.2023. It was seen that the total land was distributed in several plots and khatas and as per online information and available information in their domain, the entire land has been shown amongst several owners. The online records available with circle officer appears contradictory. The plot was shown to be registered in name of following different persons, but all the plots are located inside a common boundary which clearly shows the control and occupation of a single person. Khata Plot Area Khatiyan Register II Page No. Geo- graphical status 221 983 0.21 acres Gair Bhuinhari Not available Inside the boundary 985 1.16 acres Gair Bhuinhari Not available Inside the boundary 987 0.96 acres Gair Bhuinhari 1. Kush Kumar Bhagat and other 80 decimals (338 R 27 /87-88/17.3.88) 2. Budhan Ram, Jageshwar Ram 16 ....
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....uch as, khata number, plot number, mouza etc. but he did not disclose the true facts and concealed his possession over the subject property. He was also confronted with a property measuring one acre in the name of his family members and out of that about 17 decimals of land is recorded in his name. Finally, the ED obtained a search warrant under section 17 of the PMLA and searched his official residence at Shanti Niketan, New Delhi around 7:00 PM on 29th January 2024. However, the petitioner was not found there and it was learned that he had secretly left the premises around 2:00 AM at midnight and therefore the search was conducted in the presence of his staff and other persons present there. The conduct of the petitioner is also criticized for lodging a criminal case on 31st January 2024 vide FIR No. 6 of 2024 under section 3(1)(p)(r)(s)(u) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 against the officers of the ED who had searched his Delhi residence. He also made a complaint against the officials of the Central Reserve Police Force who were providing support to the ED officials during the recording of his statement on 20th January 2024. In c....
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.... any other appropriate writ(s), order(s) or direction(s) in the nature of mandamus restraining the Respondents, their officers, employees, servants etc.to forbear from acting and from giving any or further effect to the summons bearing Nos. PMLA/ SUMMON/ RNZO/2023/450 dated 07.08.2023, PMLA/ SUMMON/ RNZO/ 2023/ 458 dated 18.08.2023, PMLA/ SUMMON/ RNZO/ 2023/ 506/1957 dated 31.08.2023 and PMLA/SUMMON/RNZO/2023/545 dated 11.09.2023 and issuing further summons to the Petitioner in the nature of the summons impugned herein; d. Issue rule nisi in terms of prayers (a) to (c) above; e. Direction restraining the Respondent no.2 from giving any or further effect to or acting pursuant to or issuing any further summons to the Petitioner in the nature of the summons impugned herein till the disposal of the present writ petition; f. Interim and ad interim orders in terms of prayers above; g. Pass such other and further order or reliefs as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case." 9. The summons dated 7th August 2023, 18th August 2023, 31st August 2023 and 11th September 2023 were challenged in W.P.(Cr.) No.....
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....er that it is not a fit case to rule nisi the respondents. Hence, the writ petition is dismissed in limine." 11. Even going by the order passed by the co-ordinate Bench of this Court, the summons issued on 25th January 2024 survived as of 31st January 2024 when the present writ petition was filed. This writ petition cannot be held not maintainable because there are other issues involved therein, such as, the legality of arrest and remand of the petitioner and the jurisdiction of the ED to register ECIR and make inquiries against him. Mr. S. V. Raju, the learned Additional Solicitor General next contended that after the amendment the writ petition had been transformed into a Habeas Corpus petition which is not entertainable by the writ Court in the face of the remand orders dated 2nd February 2024, 7th February 2024 and 12th February 2024. The learned ASG submitted that the remand orders dated 7th February 2024 and 12th February 2024 are not under challenge and no relief can be granted to the petitioner in the present proceeding. The ED maintained that the petitioner can avail the remedy under section 45 of the PMLA read with section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure by filin....
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....by the time the High Court entertained the petition, there was an order of extension passed by the Central Government on 14-12-2018. Additionally, there were judicial orders passed by the Judicial Magistrate as well as the Special Court, Gurugram, remanding the accused to custody. If we go purely by the law laid down by this Court with regard to exercise of jurisdiction in respect of habeas corpus petition, the High Court was not justified in entertaining the petition and passing the order." 12. A Habeas Corpus proceeding is laid on the foundation of illegal detention. In "Tasneem Rizwan Siddiquee" [State of Maharashtra v. Tasneem Rizwan Siddiquee: (2018) 9 SCC 745] the Hon'ble Supreme Court held that a plea of illegal detention loses its sting when the person goes to police or judicial custody under an order passed by the jurisdictional Magistrate and no writ of Habeas Corpus can be issued. In "Manubhai Ratilal Patel" [Manubhai Ratilal Patel v. State of Gujarat: (2013) 1 SCC 314] the Hon'ble Supreme Court held that a writ of Habeas Corpus is not to be entertained when a person is committed to judicial custody or police custody by the competent Court by an order which prima faci....
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.... could be maintained in respect of a person who is in police custody pursuant to a remand order passed by the jurisdictional Magistrate in connection with the offence under investigation, this issue has been considered in Saurabh Kumar v. Jailor, Koneila Jail and Manubhai Ratilal Patel v. State of Gujarat. It is no more res integra. In the present case, admittedly, when the writ petition for issuance of a writ of habeas corpus was filed by the respondent on 18-3-2018/19-3-2018 and decided by the High Court on 21-3-2018 her husband Rizwan Alam Siddiquee was in police custody pursuant to an order passed by the Magistrate granting his police custody in connection with FIR No. I-31 vide order dated 17-3-2018 and which police remand was to enure till 23-3-2018. Further, without challenging the stated order of the Magistrate, a writ petition was filed limited to the relief of habeas corpus. In that view of the matter, it was not a case of continued illegal detention but the incumbent was in judicial custody by virtue of an order passed by the jurisdictional Magistrate, which was in force, granting police remand during investigation of a criminal case. Resultantly, no writ of habeas corpu....
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....perty in favor of the petitioner shall not provide any valid ground to the ED to issue summons to him in connection therewith and start a motivated inquiry to clip his wings. 15. The provisions under section 50 of the PMLA which vest powers in the Director etc. to summon any person to give evidence or produce any record are extracted as under: 50. Powers of authorities regarding summons, production of documents and to give evidence, etc.- (1) The Director shall, for the purposes of Section 13, have the same powers as are vested in a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908) while trying a suit in respect of the following matters, namely:- (a) discovery and inspection; (b) enforcing the attendance of any person, including any officer of a reporting entity, and examining him on oath; (c) compelling the production of records; (d) receiving evidence on affidavits; (e) issuing commissions for examination of witnesses and documents; and (f) any other matter which may be prescribed. (2) The Director, Additional Director, Joint Director, Deputy Director or Assistant Director shall have power to....
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....y from prosecution of the person in a criminal case. The use of confessions in law had started with the Tudors and Stuarts. At least since middle of 17th century confessions were used as evidence without scruple [Wigmore in Wigmore on Evidence (2nd Ed.), Vol. 2, p. 131]. The Latin phrase "habemus optimum testem confitentem reum" which means "we have the best witness, a confessing defendant" was the guiding thought in earlier times. Lord Sumner said that the common law rules relating to confessions were "as old as Lord Hale" [Ibrahim v. The King : (1914) A.C 599]. 17. The stand taken by the ED is that in the ongoing investigation divulging every material before filing of the prosecution complaint may create difficulties and hindrances in further investigation. The basis for raising this ground seems to be "Vijay Madanlal Choudhary" [Vijay Madanlal Choudhary v. Union of India : 2022 SCC OnLine SC 929] wherein the Hon'ble Supreme Court held that the ECIR is an internal document and a copy of the ECIR may not be furnished to the person concerned apprehending arrest or even after his arrest and so long as the person has been informed about the grounds of his arrest that is sufficient....
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....f the complaint. That does not mean that in every case same procedure must be followed. It is enough, if ED at the time of arrest, contemporaneously discloses the grounds of such arrest to such person. Suffice it to observe that ECIR cannot be equated with an FIR which is mandatorily required to be recorded and supplied to the accused as per the provisions of 1973 Code. Revealing a copy of an ECIR, if made mandatory, may defeat the purpose sought to be achieved by the 2002 Act including frustrating the attachment of property (proceeds of crime). Nonsupply of ECIR, which is essentially an internal document of ED, cannot be cited as violation of constitutional right. Concededly, the person arrested, in terms of Section 19 of the 2002 Act, is contemporaneously made aware about the grounds of his arrest. This is compliant with the mandate of Article 22(1) of the Constitution. It is not unknown that at times FIR does not reveal all aspects of the offence in question. In several cases, even the names of persons actually involved in the commission of offence are not mentioned in the FIR and described as unknown accused. Even, the particulars as unfolded are not fully recorded in the FIR. ....
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.... contested was whether mere registration of a First Information Report for a predicate offence which may be a scheduled offence is sufficient for the ED to register an ECIR and summon a person under section 50 of the PMLA. On behalf of the accused, it was contended that unless the commission of the scheduled offence generated proceeds of crime which was laundered by someone the ED cannot issue summons under section 50(2) by registering an ECIR even before identifying some property as representing the proceeds of crime. The Hon'ble Supreme Court held that: "these contentions, in our opinion, if accepted, would amount to putting the cart before the horse. Unfortunately for the accused, this is not the scheme of the Act". 20. The purpose of registering a First Information Report is to set the machinery of law in motion. A First Information Report as its literal meaning would suggest is registered based on information to the police about the commission of a cognizable offence. At this juncture, a prosecution complaint is yet to be filed and the result of the investigation in Sadar P.S Case No. 272 of 2023 is awaited. In its official communication to the Chief Secretary, the ED state....
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..../disposal of land by a few private persons in conspiracy with brokers and certain officials of land revenue department. During the course of investigation, searches have been conducted on 13.04.2023 and 26.04.2023 at several premises linked to the above persons and several incriminating evidences have been seized. During investigation, seven persons have been arrested in this case including Bhanu Pratap Prasad, Revenue Sub-Inspector, Baragai, Ranchi. A report in this matter has also been forwarded to your good office. 2. During searches on 13.04.2023, the following 17 original registers were seized from the premises under use and occupation of Bhanu Pratap Prasad and 11 trunks of records/documents related to landed properties including several deeds: 3. Investigation conducted by this office has revealed that several entries/pages of the above registers (पंजी-II) have been tampered and original records have been falsified. Investigation has also revealed that names of several persons have been erased from the said registers and fresh entries have been made to extend undue favours to some private persons. 4. In some of the reg....
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....0, Offences under the Information Technology Act, 2000 as well as the offences under section 7 and section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Hence, it is proper to share the information under section 66(2) of PMLA. The provisions of section 66(2) of PMLA are as under: "..If the Director or other authority specified under sub-section (1) is of the opinion, on the basis of information or material in his possession, that the provisions of any other law for the time being in force are contravened, then the Director or such other authority shall share the information with the concerned agency for necessary action.. The legal sanctity of the said provision is further explained by Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in para 282 and para 290 in case of Vijay Madanlal Chaudhary & others (2022 SCC Online SC 929) 9. The Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in its order dated 12.11.2013 in the case of Lalita Kumari Vs. Govt. of Uttar Pradesh and others in W.P (Crl.) No. 68 of 2008 and others has categorically asserted on the significance and compelling reasons for registration of FIR at the earliest. The Hon'ble court has stated as under; 93. Th....
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....nment rate and the prevailing fair market value of this property is much higher. In the circumstances of the case, "Pavana Dibbur" [Pavana Dibbur v. The Directorate of Enforcement : Criminal Appeal No.2779 of 2023] does not come in aid to the petitioner. 23. The main plank of the petitioner is that mere forceful possession of the subject property cannot be the proceeds of crime covered under section 2(1)(u) of the PMLA. Mr. Kapil Sibal, the learned senior counsel contended that the whole basis of the proceedings against the petitioner is the statement of a few persons recorded under section 50 of the PMLA and the ED had no other material before it based on which the arresting officer could have reason to believe that the petitioner is guilty of the offence under the PMLA. The learned senior counsel endeavored to show how the ED started sending summons to the petitioner for recording his statement under section 50 and in hot haste the statement of witnesses was recorded within two days. In simple words, the submission is that the present proceeding against the petitioner is part of a political vendetta and lacks bonafide. Per contra, the learned ASG referred to the search and sei....
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....bsequently, remand was extended for another five days and then for three days vide order dated 07.02.2024 and 12.02.2024 respectively, after perusing the records and materials relating to the case and the arrest of the accused. 52. That, during the custody, the Petitioner was confronted with the materials available with this office. The accused has been showing acute non- cooperation and is reluctant to divulge true facts regarding the properties acquired by him and other persons connected to him. 53. That, the accused was also confronted with his chats over WhatsApp with his close associate Binod Singh which are highly incriminating and contain details of several properties, However, the accused person refused to oven sign and acknowledge the printout of the WhatsApp chats, although, he has admitted that there are conversations between them. 54. That, the above stated WhatsApp chat not only include the exchange of confidential information regarding several properties but other incriminating information relating to transfer posting, sharing of government records etc. out of which huge amount of money appears to have been generated and transacted, In addit....
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....perty or claiming it to be so. Thus, involvement in any one of such process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime would constitute offence of money-laundering. This offence otherwise has nothing to do with the criminal activity relating to a scheduled offence - except the proceeds of crime derived or obtained as a result of that crime. 270. Needless to mention that such process or activity can be indulged in only after the property is derived or obtained as a result of criminal activity (a scheduled offence). It would be an offence of moneylaundering to indulge in or to assist or being party to the process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime; and such process or activity in a given fact situation may be a continuing offence, irrespective of the date and time of commission of the scheduled offence. In other words, the criminal activity may have been committed before the same had been notified as scheduled offence for the purpose of the 2002 Act, but if a person has indulged in or continues to indulge directly or indirectly in dealing with proceeds of crime, derived or obtained from such criminal activity even after it has been notified as scheduled o....
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....nterpretation put forth by the respondent will further the purposes and objectives behind the 2002 Act and also adequately address the recommendations and doubts of the international body whilst keeping in mind the constitutional limits. It would, therefore, be just to sustain the argument that the amendment by way of the Explanation has been brought about only to clarify the already present words, "any" and "including" which manifests the true meaning of the definition and clarifies the mist around its true nature." 25. In "Vijay Madanlal Choudhary" (supra) the Hon'ble Supreme Court held that the continued possession or concealment of the proceeds of crime whether fully or in part shall attract the offence of money-laundering under the PMLA. In paragraph no. 270 of the reported judgment, the Hon'ble Supreme Court held that it would be an offence of money-laundering to indulge in or to assist or be a party to the process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime; and such process and activity in a given factsituation may be a continuing offence irrespective of the date and time of the commission of the scheduled offence. By way of an example, it has been clarified that th....
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....ican Jurist and a Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States once said: "a word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged, it is the skin of the living thought and may vary greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and time in which it is used". In "Maganlal Chhaganlal (P) Ltd." [Maganlal Chhaganlal (P) Ltd. v. Municipal Corpn. of Greater Bombay : (1974) 2 SCC 402] the Hon'ble Supreme Court advancing a pragmatic approach made the following significant observations; "22...... As in life so in law things are not static. Fresh vistas and horizons may reveal themselves as a result of the impact of new ideas and developments in different fields of life. Law, if it has to satisfy human needs and to meet the problems of life, must adapt itself to cope with new situations. Nobody is so gifted with foresight that he can divine all possible human events in advance and prescribe proper rules for each of them. There are, however, certain verities which are of the essence of the rule of law and no law can afford to do away with them. At the same time it has to be recognized that there is a continuing process of the growth of law and one can retard it only at th....
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....t property. 29. In legal parlance, the expression "possession" has a definite meaning and connotation and illegal possession of a person over an immovable property is protected in law to a certain extent. The word "property" within the meaning under clause (v) to section 2(1) of the PMLA includes any property or assets of every description and it can be tangible or intangible. There is a crime registered for forging the revenue records, falsification of the official records and other scheduled offences. This is the case pleaded by the ED that by its timely action the intended acts of forgery and manipulation in the revenue records of the subject property were foiled. The Register-II and other revenue records pertaining to the subject property were found missing in the Circle Office. Those documents were seized by the ED in the course of a search conducted at the premises/rented premises of Bhanu Pratap Prasad whose association with the petitioner has been brought on record. In our opinion, any attempt to commit a scheduled offence has to be read in section 2(1)(u) of the PMLA as the expression "any criminal activity relating to a scheduled offence" shall encompass an attempt to ....
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....which is defined under section 463. The essential ingredient of the offence of forgery is the making of any written instrument for fraud or deceit. This is implicit in the alleged commission of the scheduled offence under sections 420, 467 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code which are included in Part-A to the Schedule that there were acts and omissions towards wrongful gains by forging valuable security. The term "wrongful gain" as defined under section 23 of the Indian Penal Code refers to any gain by unlawful means of the property to which the person gaining is not legally entitled. Similarly, the expression "wrongful loss" means the loss by unlawful means of property to which the person losing it is legally entitled. The words "valuable security" denote a document which is, or purports to be, a document whereby any legal right is created, extended, transferred, restricted, extinguished or released, or whereby any person acknowledges that he lies under legal liability or, has not a certain legal right. This is the prosecution case that the petitioner is in continuing possession, use, and concealment of the properties and there are strong reasons to believe that he knowingly indulge....
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.... appreciate that above mentioned 12 properties identified by the ED are not the proceeds of crime and the story concocted by the ED is false and based on surmises and conjectures. In reply thereto, the ED contended that the petitioner is a party to the activities connected with the concealment of the original records for projecting the subject property as an untainted acquisition. The petitioner in league with Bhanu Pratap Prasad who is accused of committing a predicate offence has been involved in concealment and falsification of the records. 32. The validity of section 19 of the PMLA was under challenge in "Vijay Madanlal Choudhary" (supra). The Hon'ble Supreme Court held that this provision has reasonable nexus with the purposes and objects of prevention of money-laundering and confiscation of the proceeds of crime involved in money-laundering and prosecution of the persons involved in the processes or activities connected with the proceeds of crime under the PMLA Act; the Constitutional validity of section 19 was upheld. Section 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure empowers the Judicial Magistrate to authorize the detention of an accused in the custody of the police and, un....
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....r, Assistant Director or any other officer authorised in this behalf by the Central Government by general or special order, has on the basis of material in his possession, reason to believe (the reason for such belief to be recorded in writing) that any person has been guilty of an offence punishable under this Act, he may arrest such person and shall, as soon as may be, inform him of the grounds for such arrest. (2) The Director, Deputy Director, Assistant Director or any other officer shall, immediately after arrest of such person under sub-section (1), forward a copy of the order along with the material in his possession, referred to in that sub-section, to the Adjudicating Authority, in a sealed envelope, in the manner as may be prescribed and such Adjudicating Authority shall keep such order and material for such period, as may be prescribed. (3) Every person arrested under sub-section (1) shall, within twenty-four hours, be taken to a Special Court or Judicial Magistrate or a Metropolitan Magistrate, as the case may be, having jurisdiction: Provided that the period of twenty-four hours shall exclude the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest....
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....and had been a party with several other persons in their activities linked to the acquisition of landed properties in fraudulent manners. 2. On the basis of this information, shared with Jharkhand Government under section 66(2) of PMLA, an FIR bearing no 272/23 dated 01/06/23 was registered by PS Sadar, Ranchi against one Bhanu Pratap Prasad, Revenue Sub Inspector under section 465/467/468/469/476/466/420/379/474 of IPC. Further, on the basis of the FIR no. 272/2023 registered by Sadar P. S, Ranchi, ECIR bearing no RNZO/25/2023 was recorded by Directorate of Enforcement, Ranchi Zonal office on 26.06.2023. The information shared under section 66(2) by ED is integral part of the FIR lodged by the Ranchi Police under section 465/467/468/469/471/466/420/379/474 of IPC out of which section 420, 467 and 471 are schedule offences. 3. The investigation into the above matter has revealed Bhanu Pratap Prasad (Revenue Sub-Inspector, Circle Office, Baragai, Ranchi) and others are a part of a very large syndicate, involved in corrupt practices of acquiring properties forcefully as well as on the basis of false deeds, falsification of government records, tampering with original....
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....operty acquired by him in an illegal manner as an untainted property. Further, the process or the activity connected with the acquisition, possession and use of proceeds of crime by projecting it as untainted property is continuing as on day as he is still enjoying the said proceeds of crime by its possession, occupation and use by claiming it as an untainted property. 10. Considering the facts and circumstances as stated above, and taking into consideration the activities and processes of money laundering in which Shri Hemant Soren is directly involved and is also a party with the said Bhanu Pratap Prasad and others, there are sufficient reasons to believe that Shri Hemant Soren is guilty of the offence of money laundering as per section 3 of PMLA. 11. Hence as discussed above, Shri Hemant Soren is actually and knowingly involved in the processes and activities connected with the acquisition, concealment, possession and use of proceeds of crime and projecting the said proceeds of crime as untainted property. As such, he is guilty of the offence of money laundering as defined under section 3 of PMLA and he is liable to be arrested under section 19 of PMLA, 2002. ....
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....e, the question of malafides pales into insignificance in the face of the abundance of materials collected by the ED which prima facie show the involvement of the petitioner with the proceeds of crime and money-laundering. In "Chandra Prakash Singh" [Chandra Prakash Singh v. Purvanchal Gramin Bank: (2008) 12 SCC 292] the Hon'ble Supreme Court elucidated the law on the subject as under: "34. Thus, as a proposition of law, the burden of proving mala fides is very heavy on the person who alleges it. Mere allegation is not enough. Party making such allegations is under the legal obligation to place specific materials before the court to substantiate the said allegations. There has to be very strong and convincing evidence to establish the allegations of mala fides specifically and definitely alleged in the petition as the same cannot merely be presumed. The presumption under law is in favour of the bona fides of the order unless contradicted by acceptable material." 37. The discussions in the order dated 2nd February 2024 passed by the Spl. Judge under PMLA in ECIR- 6 of 2023, Ranchi read as under: "In view of the rival argument forwarded by the parties and on peru....
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....icer of this case is further directed to intimate this court about medical examination of accused at the time of sending him to judicial custody. Further, the above named accused may be permitted to meet his lawyer as well as his wife/a family member for half an hour each day if he so wishes during interrogation. Accordingly, in the light of discussion made hereinabove, the petition filed on behalf of I.O. (ED) is hereby allowed. Let a copy of this order be given to Investigating Officer (ED) and Jail Superintendent, BMC, Jail Hotwar, Ranchi for information and needful." 38. The requirement in section 19 that the arresting officer must have reason to believe before he may arrest a person is not that of strict proof. The test which shall be employed to examine the materials pertaining to reason to believe must necessarily be the preponderance of probability. While examining the petitioner's stand that there is no material even remotely suggesting his involvement in the commission of the offence under section 3, this must be remembered that the only requirement in law is that the decision to arrest the accused should prima facie reflect the application of mind. The word "....
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....ED are not real. The fabrication and falsification of the property deeds and revenue records are the matters of record, and there is prima facie evidence of the petitioner's association with Bhanu Pratap Prasad. At the relevant time, the petitioner was the Chief Minister and there was manipulation in registering the report in Sadar PS Case No. 272 of 2023. The recovery of huge cash from his Delhi residence is not denied by the petitioner and the excuse of the illness of his parents for keeping more than 36 lacs in cash prima facie looks untenable. In this state of affairs, by raising a technical plea the petitioner cannot wriggle out of the mess he created for himself. Like the last resort to a losing litigant, an anxious petitioner has raised the bogey of political vendetta. The case set up by the ED against the petitioner is not based only on the statements recorded under section 50 of the PMLA including of those who claimed themselves real owners of the properties in question, there is an abundance of documents that lay a foundation for the arrest and remand of the petitioner to police and judicial custody. At this stage, this is not possible to hold that the ED has proceeded ag....