TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (8) TMI 99
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....ght for is for a direction to the Assistant Director of the Directorate of Enforcement, Chennai Zonal Office-I, to revoke and release the attachment and seizure of all the movable and immovable properties of the petitioners under ECIR/CEZO- I/63/2022. 2. All the petitioners herein inter alia were shown as defendants in the Original Application filed by the Enforcement Directorate under Section 17(4) of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (hereinafter referred to as 'PMLA'), to whom summons have been issued for retention of movable properties seized by them. 3. Since the grievances of all these petitioners, as well as the cause of action, are one and the same, these petitions are disposed of through a common order. 4. The Central C....
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.... and continued to issue summons to the other petitioners, calling for their reply to the action of attachment and seizure of movable and immovable properties. These summons were put under challenge before a Co-ordinate Bench of this Court in Crl.O.P. Nos.13132, 14795, 14804, 14860, 14899 & 14901 of 2023 by the petitioners, on the ground that in view of closure of the predicate offences, the proceedings under PMLA cannot be legally continued. By an order dated 29.09.2023, the Hon'ble Division Bench had allowed all the Criminal Original Petitions and quashed the ECIR summons issued to the petitioners herein. The relevant portion of the order reads as follows:- "21. Paragraph No.467 of Vijay Madanlal case is the ratio. It is instructive ....
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.... 14901 of 2023 are allowed. Summons No.PMLA/SUMMON/CEZO/2023/1152 in ECIR/CEZO-I/63/2022, No.PMLA/SUMMON/CEZO/2023/1181 in ECIR/CEZO-I/63/2022, No.PMLA/SUMMON/CEZO/2023/1180 in ECIR/CEZO-I/63/2022, No.PMLA/SUMMON/CEZO/2023/1184 in ECIR/CEZO-I/63/2022, No.PMLA/SUMMON/CEZO/2023/1182 in ECIR/CEZO-I/63/2022 and No.PMLA/SUMMON/CEZO/2023/1183 in ECIR/CEZO-I/63/2022 are quashed albeit with a caveat that if predicate offence case is resuscitated or if there is any further action in respect of predicate offence, liberty/rights of all concerned is preserved for restoring/taking further steps under PMLA. Consequently, 6 Crl.MPs (Crl.MP.Nos.7975, 9229, 9231, 9256, 9282 and 9283 of 2023) are disposed of as closed. Crl.MP No.9244 of 2023 is dismissed. Th....
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....case, on the strength of the FIR against the petitioners herein for the scheduled offences, the ED had recorded an ECIR and during the course of investigation, had passed the provisional attachment order No.05/2023, dated 25.05.2023. Thereafter, when they had filed an Original Complaint in OC.No.1997/2023 before the Adjudicating Authority, Prevention of Money Laundering, New Delhi, for confirmation of the provisional attachment order, the same came to be dropped. This fact is revealed in the counter affidavit filed by the respondents themselves. 12. The provisional attachment order under Section 5(1) of PMLA shall be valid only for a period of 180 days. Under Sub-section 3 of Section 5, the provisional attachment made under Sub-section 1, ....