TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (4) TMI 1177
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....stigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, was initiated by recording an ECIR bearing no. 3/2022 based on the FIR no. 85/2020 dt. 22.06.2020 of one Sambhu Nandan Kumar at Barharwa Police Station, Distt-Sahebganj, Jharkhand against accused Pankaj Mishra and others. It is alleged that the accused persons threatened the above complainant over the phone not to participate in the tender of Barharwa Toll, and on the refusal of which the complainant was attacked by a mob, on the behest of the accused persons. Subsequently, the charge sheet no. 231/2020 dated 30.11.2020 was filed in the court at Rajmahal, DisttSahebganj. Further, the agency took several other FIRs related to the matter along with the above case to investigate the instant case. It was revealed during the investigation that the vehicles carrying the mined items (Mainly stone chips) had to cross Barharwa Toll before reaching the main roads. It was also revealed that apart from mining under valid licenses, a vast quantity of mining is being carried out illegally in Sahibganj District and adjoining areas. It also revealed that the accused person, Pankaj Mishra, is involved in the illegal collection of levi....
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....ccordingly the petitioner had preferred the Misc. Cri. Application No. 2850 of 2023 for grant of his bail but the same was dismissed vide order dated 09.10.2023 by the learned Spl. Judge, PML Act, Ranchi. Hence the present petition has been preferred for the grant of bail. Argument on behalf of the learned counsel for the petitioner : 3. Mr. S. Nagamuthu, learned senior counsel for the petitioner has argued inter alia on the following grounds: i. The petitioner has not been shown as an accused in the scheduled offence so merely by inserting penal offence under Section 120-B of IPC, the offence said to be committed under Section 3 of the PML Act, 2002 will not be attracted. ii. The ground has been taken that the FIR is dated 22.06.2020 and after lapse of two years, the ECIR has been instituted, hence, it is nothing but an afterthought. iii. There are altogether three complaints apart from the original ECIR. In the ECIR three persons have been arrayed as an accused, namely, Pankaj Mishra, Prem Prakash and Pashupati Yadav. In the first complaint, Pankaj Mishra; Bachhu Yadav and; Prem Prakash have been arrayed as accused, in the second complaint, Pas....
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....etitioner is to be given the privilege of bail. Argument on behalf of the learned counsel for the respondent-ED: 6. While on the other hand, Mr. Anil Kumar, learned Additional Solicitor General of India for the opposite party-Enforcement Directorate has vehemently opposed the prayer for grant of regular bail by taking the following grounds: (i) It is incorrect on the part of the petitioner to take the ground that the case is of illegal mining only rather if the entire complaint will be taken into consideration, then various FIRs have also been made subject matter of the enquiry. The FIRs were also instituted on the basis of the direction of the National Green Tribunal which were under investigation. (ii) The ground which has been taken that the instant case is not under scheduled offence, cannot be said to be correct argument reason being that if the all FIRs which has been made subject matter of the ECIR will be taken into consideration, it is evident therefrom that the allegation has been levelled against the petitioner under Section 411 and 414 of Indian Penal Code which are scheduled offence, hence, the ground that the alleged offence is not coming under....
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....is the person who is in the helms of the affairs of illegal mining and the present petitioner is his close associate. Further, the complicity has also been shown against the Prem Prakash whose bail application has already been rejected. 7. Learned ASGI for the opposite party-ED, based upon the aforesaid grounds, has submitted that since the nature of allegation committed by the present petitioner is identical to that of Pankaj Mishra to the extent that he has been found to be a close associate while against Krishna Kumar Saha no such allegation is there, as such, the instant bail application is fit to be rejected. Analysis 8. This Court, before appreciating the argument advanced on behalf of the parties, deems it fit and proper to discuss herein some of the provision of law as contained under the Act, 2002 with its object and intent. 9. The Act was enacted to address the urgent need to have a comprehensive legislation inter alia for preventing money-laundering, attachment of proceeds of crime, adjudication and confiscation thereof including vesting of it in the Central Government, setting up of agencies and mechanisms for coordinating measures for combating money-launde....
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.... in order to assist the law enforcement agencies in tackling the problem of money-laundering. (c) the Financial Action Task Force established at the summit of seven major industrial nations, held in Paris from 14th to 16th July, 1989, to examine the problem of money-laundering has made forty recommendations, which provide the foundation material forcomprehensive legislation to combat the problem of money- laundering. The recommendations were classified under various heads. Some of the important heads are- (i) declaration of laundering of monies carried through serious crimes a criminal offence; (ii) to work out modalities of disclosure by financial institutions regarding reportable transactions; (iii) confiscation of the proceeds of crime; (iv) declaring money-laundering to be an extraditable offence; and (v) promoting international co-operation in investigation of money- laundering. (d) the Political Declaration and Global Programme of Action adopted by United Nations General Assembly by its Resolution No. S-17/2 of 23rd February, 1990, inter alia, calls upon the member States to develop mechanism to prevent financial ....
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.... 14. It is, thus, evident that the reason for giving explanation under Section 2(1)(u) is by way of clarification to the effect that whether as per the substantive provision of Section 2(1)(u), the property derived or obtained, directly or indirectly, by any person as a result of criminal activity relating to a scheduled offence or the value of any such property or where such property is taken or held outside the country but by way of explanation the proceeds of crime has been given broader implication by including property not only derived or obtained from the scheduled offence but also any property which may directly or indirectly be derived or obtained as a result of any criminal activity relatable to the scheduled offence. 15. The "property" has been defined under Section 2(1)(v) which means any property or assets of every description, whether corporeal or incorporeal, movable or immovable, tangible or intangible and includes deeds and instruments evidencing title to, or interest in, such property or assets, wherever located. 16. The schedule has been defined under Section 2(1)(x) which means schedule to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The "scheduled offe....
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....g or claiming it as untainted property shall be guilty of offence of money-laundering. 20. It is further evident that the process or activity connected with proceeds of crime is a continuing activity and continues till such time a person is directly or indirectly enjoying the proceeds of crime by its concealment or possession or acquisition or use or projecting it as untainted property or claiming it as untainted property in any manner whatsoever. 21. The punishment for money laundering has been provided under Section 4 of the Act, 2002. Section 50 of the Act, 2002 confers power upon the authorities regarding summons, production of documents and to give evidence. For ready reference, Section 50 of the Act, 2002 is quoted 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] a....
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....or activity connected with the proceeds of crime. Thus, the principal provision (as also the Explanation) predicates that if a person is found to be directly or indirectly involved in any process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime must be held guilty of offence of moneylaundering. If the interpretation set forth by the petitioners was to be accepted, it would follow that it is only upon projecting or claiming the property in question as untainted property, the offence would be complete. This would undermine the efficacy of the legislative intent behind Section 3 of the Act and also will be in disregard of the view expressed by the FATF in connection with the occurrence of the word "and" preceding the expression "projecting or claiming" therein. This Court in Pratap Singh v. State of Jharkhand, enunciated that the international treaties, covenants and conventions although may not be a part of municipal law, the same be referred to and followed by the Courts having regard to the fact that India is a party to the said treaties. This Court went on to observe that the Constitution of India and other ongoing statutes have been read consistently with the rules of internation....
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....ion (2) of Section 50 enables the Director, Additional Director, Joint Director, Deputy Director or Assistant Director to issue summon to any person whose attendance he considers necessary for giving evidence or to produce any records during the course of any investigation or proceeding under this Act. We have already highlighted the width of expression "proceeding" in the earlier part of this judgment and held that it applies to proceeding before the Adjudicating Authority or the Special Court, as the case may be. Nevertheless, sub-section (2) empowers the authorised officials to issue summon to any person. We fail to understand as to how Article 20(3) would come into play in respect of process of recording statement pursuant to such summon which is only for the purpose of collecting information or evidence in respect of proceeding under this Act. Indeed, the person so summoned, is bound to attend in person or through authorised agent and to state truth upon any subject concerning which he is being examined or is expected to make statement and produce documents as may be required by virtue of sub-section (3) of Section 50 of the 2002 Act. The criticism is essentially because of su....
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...."witness", which must be understood in its natural sense, i.e., as referring to a person who furnishes evidence. Indeed, every positive volitional act which furnishes evidence is testimony, and testimonial compulsion connotes coercion which procures the positive volitional evidentiary acts of the person, as opposed to the negative attitude of silence or submission on his part. Nor is there any reason to think that the protection in respect of the evidence so procured is confined to what transpires at the trial in the court room. The phrase used in article 20(3) is "to be a witness" and not to "appear as a witness". It follows that the protection afforded to an accused in so far as it is related to the phrase "to be a witness" is not merely in respect of testimonial compulsion in the court room but may well extend to compelled testimony previously obtained from him. It is available therefore to a person against whom a formal accusation relating to the commission of an offence has been levelled which in the normal course may result in prosecution. Whether it is available to other persons in other situations does not call for decision in this case." (emphasis supplied) 431. I....
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....at the same being in the nature of confession, shall not be proved against him. Further, it would not preclude the prosecution from proceeding against such a person including for consequences under Section 63 of the 2002 Act on the basis of other tangible material to indicate the falsity of his claim. That would be a matter of rule of evidence. 434. It is, thus, clear that the power invested in the officials is one for conducting inquiry into the matters relevant for ascertaining existence of proceeds of crime and the involvement of persons in the process or activity connected therewith so as to initiate appropriate action against such person including of seizure, attachment and confiscation of the property eventually vesting in the Central Government." 24. It is evident from the observation so made as above that the purposes and objects of the 2002 Act for which it has been enacted, is not limited to punishment for offence of money-laundering, but also to provide measures for prevention of money-laundering. It is also to provide for attachment of proceeds of crime, which are likely to be concealed, transferred or dealt with in any manner which may result in frustrating....
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....ontrary contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and accordingly the officers authorised under this Act are empowered to arrest an accused without warrant, subject to the fulfilment of conditions under section 19 and subject to the conditions enshrined under this section. 29. The fact about the implication of Section 45 has been interpreted by the Hon'ble Apex Court in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary and Ors. Vs. Union of India and Ors.(supra) at paragraphs-372-374. For ready reference, the said paragraphs are being referred as under: "372. Section 45 has been amended vide Act 20 of 2005, Act 13 of 2018 and Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019. The provision as it obtained prior to 23.11.2017 read somewhat differently. The constitutional validity of Sub-section (1) of Section 45, as it stood then, was considered in Nikesh Tarachand Shah. This Court declared Section 45(1) of the 2002 Act, as it stood then, insofar as it imposed two further conditions for release on bail, to be unconstitutional being violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. The two conditions which have been mentioned as twin conditions are: (i) that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he ....
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....e are involved in money laundering. Such conditions enumerated in Section 45 of PML Act will have to be complied with even in respect of an application for bail made under Section 439 Cr. P.C. in view of the overriding effect given to the PML Act over the other law for the time being in force, under Section 71 of the PML Act. For ready reference, paragraph-17 of the said judgment is quoted as under: "17. As well settled by now, the conditions specified under Section 45 are mandatory. They need to be complied with. The Court is required to be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of such offence and he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail. It is needless to say that as per the statutory presumption permitted under Section 24 of the Act, the Court or the Authority is entitled to presume unless the contrary is proved, that in any proceedings relating to proceeds of 17 A.B.A. No. 10671 of 2023 crime under the Act, in the case of a person charged with the offence of money laundering under Section 3, such proceeds of crime are involved in money laundering. Such conditions enumerated in Section 45 of PML Act will hav....
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....nt of India through Manoj Kumar, Assistant Director, Eastern Region, (2015) 16 SCC 1 has been pleased to hold at paragraph -30 that the conditions specified under Section 45 of PMLA are mandatory and need to be complied with, which is further strengthened by the provisions of Section 65 and also Section 71 of PMLA. Section 65 requires that the provisions of Cr.P.C shall apply insofar as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act and Section 71 provides that the provisions of PMLA shall have overriding effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in force. PMLA has an overriding effect and the provisions of CrPC would apply only if they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act. 34. Therefore, the conditions enumerated in Section 45 of PMLA will have to be complied with even in respect of an application for bail made under Section 439 CrPC. That coupled with the provisions of Section 24 provides that unless the contrary is proved, the authority or the Court shall presume that proceeds of crime are involved in money-laundering and the burden to prove that the proceeds of crime are not involved, lies ....
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....led that Accused No. 5 (Krishna Kumar Saha), Accused No. 6 (Bhagwan Bhagat) Accused No. (Tinkal Kumar Bhagat) are directly indulged in illegal mining activities and are knowingly a party to the accused persons arrested earlier. Further, they are involved in concealment, possession, acquisition, use of proceeds of crime and projecting and claiming the proceeds of crime as untainted property. Thus, Accused No. (Krishna Kumar Saha) was arrested on 05.07.2023 under section 19 of PMLA, 2002. Thereafter, Accused No. 6 (Bhagwan Bhagat) and Accused No. 7 (Tinkal Kumar Bhagat) were subsequently arrested on 07.07.2023 owing to their involvement in the offence of money laundering. 8. Brief detail of persons examined u/s 50(2) & (3) of PMLA 8.2 Bhagwan Bhagat (Accused No.6)- In his statement dated 06.08.2022 (RUD No. 13) recorded under section 50 of PMLA, 2002, it is revealed that he looks after the business of stone loading on railway rakes for Pankaj Mishra. He has further stated that he used to load around 2 to 3 railway rakes per month for Pankaj Mishra. Further, In order to maximize the purported profits for Pankaj Mishra, he also used to show the sale of stone ....
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....ong with his accomplices extorted levies amounting to Rs. 1 ac per month from every stone crusher operating in Sahebganj. Further, he has also stated that a levy amounting to Rs. 25,000 was extorted by Tinkal Bhagat from every railway rake loaded from Sahebganj for transportation. BRIEF SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE TO PROVE THAT THE ACCUSED AND PROPERTIES ARE INVOLVED IN MONEY LAUNDERING ALONG WITH THE FINDING OF THE INVESTIGATION OFFICERUNDER PMLA 2002 9.8 On 29.07.2022, illegal mining by M/s Bhagwan Stone Works, one of the firms of Bhagwan Bhagat was identified at Mauja Borna. The lease was given for mining on a total area of 13.13 acres at block Patna. However, the inspection revealed that the total mining has been done on an area of 21 acres. The mining exceeded in adjacent plots no. 135P, 138P, 137P, 136, 1299, 120, 119, 118P, 89P, 111P and 110P of Mauja Borna. It revealed that from April, 2019 to June, 2022, total mining challan obtained by Bhagwan Bhagat was around 23908985 CET whereas the actual mining done by him was several times the quantity for which Chapman was obtained. Thus about 7.8 acres of excess mining by Bhagwan Bhagat was identified which was entirely ....
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....ities are largely unreported and are deliberately concealed from the financial system. Brief summary of the result of the investigation under PMLA 10.5 A joint inspection of multiple stone mining sites conducted between July 25, 2022, and July 29, 2022, confirmed extensive illegal mining activities in Sahebganj, Krishna Kumar Saha (Accused No. 5), Bhagwan Bhagat No. 6), and Tinkal Kumar Bhagat (Accused No. 7) were found to have excavated stone mines beyond authorized limits. This not only led to significant financial losses for the treasury but also caused considerable environmental damage. During the investigation, the bank accounts of these three accused individuals were scrutinized, revealing substantial cash deposits and interlinked transactions with Pankaj Mishra. 10.6 The investigation exposed that the accused parties engaged in unlawful mining operations in Sahebganj with the support of Pankaj Mishra. They supplied stone chips and aggregates to regions in Jharkhand, Bihar, and West Bengal. It was also revealed that Tinkal Kumar Bhagat and Bhagwan Bhagat actively aided Pankaj Mishra in carrying out illegal mining operations at his direction. ....
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.... the illegal mining activities are unaccounted and undeclared and the proceeds out of it are generally dealt in cash which are laundered through the Associates of the accused persons. On 08.07.2022, searches were conducted on the premises of Pankaj Mishra and his associates and cash worth Rs 5 was seized. Further bank balances of Pankaj Mishra and his associates were frozen having balances worth 13 crores approx. out of which Rs. 28,50,000/- was seized from the premises of the present petitioner. 38. Further during the Joint Inspection on 29.07.2022, the mining sites of M/s Bhagwan Stone Works, a company associated with present petitioner Bhagwan Bhagat, was Identified at Mauja Borna. The mining lease, originally granted for a total area of 13.13 acres in block Patna, was found to have exceeded its limits, with the actual mining covering an area of 21 acres. The excess mining occurred in adjacent plots in 135P,138P, 137P,136, 129P, 120, 119, 118P, 89P,111P, and of Mauza Borna. Investigation revealed that between April 2019 and June 2022, Bhagwan Bhagat obtained mining challans totalling approximately 23908,985 cubic feet Tower (CFT). However, the actual mining performed by him f....
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....osecution complaint, during the course of investigation, searches were conducted on 08.07.2023 at the premises linked to Petitioner but he concealed most of the documents evidencing illegal mining conducted by them to unknown destinations which they did not reveal during investigation. This fact is also established from the recovery of a letter from the mobile phone of Bhagwan Bhagat, written by this office on 20.05.2022 to the Sr. Division Commercial Manager, Malda Eastern Railway in which this office has sought details of transport made by different entities through railways. It prima-facie indicates that the present petitioner have access to the records of government offices and has good proximities with government officials too. However, during the searches, cash amounting to Rs 28,50,000/- was seized from the residential premises of the present petitioner. 42. Thus in nut shell, it is evident from supplementary prosecution complaint that the petitioner was directly involved in illegal mining. The mining lease, originally granted for a total area of 13.13 acres in block Patna, was found to have exceeded its limits. He has also knowingly assisted Pankaj Mishra in laundering p....
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....son does not retain the money generated as proceeds of crime but "uses" it, he will be guilty of the offence of money-laundering, since "use" is one of the six activities mentioned in Section 3. In the instant case the proceeds obtained from illegal mining activities are laundered through diverse methods, one of which Involves making incremental cash deposits in their bank accounts. This is done in a piecemeal manner with the intention of presenting the tainted property as untainted. 47. Keeping in mind these essential elements that make up the molecular structure of Section 3, this Court adverts in to facts of the instant case as discussed in preceding paragraph is of view that the contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner has no substance. 48. Further, the burden of proof is on the Petitioner until the contrary is proved, the same is observed in various judicial pronouncements and upheld in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary (2022) SCC Online 929. In Rohit Tandon vs. Directorate of Enforcement, (2018) 11 SCC 46, the Supreme Court observed that the provisions of section 24 of the PMLA provide that unless the contrary is proved, the authority or the Court shall presume that ....
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.... 51. To constitute any property as proceeds of crime, it must be derived or obtained directly or indirectly by any person as a result of criminal activity relating to a scheduled offence. The explanation clarifies that the proceeds of crime include property, not only derived or obtained from scheduled offence but also any property which may directly or indirectly be derived or obtained as a result of any criminal activity relatable to the scheduled offence. Clause (u) also clarifies that even the value of any such property will also be the proceeds of crime. 52. Further it is settled proposition of law that if a person who is unconnected with the scheduled offence, knowingly assists the concealment of the proceeds of crime or knowingly assists the use of proceeds of crime, in that case, he can be held guilty of committing an offence under Section 3 of the PMLA. Therefore, it is not necessary that a person against whom the offence under Section 3 of the PMLA is alleged must have been shown as the accused in the scheduled offence. 53. The contention of learned counsel for the petitioner that there was delay of 2 years on the part of the ED in registering ECIR after lodging o....
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....tsoever. 58. Further, it is evident from the judicial pronouncement as discussed above that in order to constitute any property as proceeds of crime, it must be derived or obtained directly or indirectly by any person as a result of criminal activity relating to a scheduled offence. The explanation clarifies that the proceeds of crime include property, not only derived or obtained from scheduled offence but also any property which may directly or indirectly be derived or obtained as a result of any criminal activity relatable to the scheduled offence. Clause (u) also clarifies that even the value of any such property will also be the proceeds of crime and in the instant case from perusal of paragraph of the prosecution complaint it is evident that the petitioner is not only involved rather his involvement is direct in procuring the proceeds of crime by way of connivance with the other accused persons. 59. Further it is pertinent to mention here that It is not necessary that a person against whom the offence under Section 3 of the PMLA is alleged must have been shown as the accused in the scheduled offence. Reference in this regard may be taken from the Judgment as rendered by....
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....cumstance that tilts the scales in favour of the accused for grant of bail and needless to say, filing of the charge-sheet does not in any manner lessen the allegations made by the prosecution. 66. At this juncture it would be apposite to refer the decision of Hon'ble Supreme Court rendered in the case of Virupakshappa Gouda v. State of Karnataka, (2017) 5 SCC 406 wherein at paragraph-12 the Hon'ble Apex Court has observed which reads as under: "12. On a perusal of the order passed by the learned trial Judge, we find that he has been swayed by the factum that when a charge-sheet is filed it amounts to change of circumstance. Needless to say, filing of the charge- sheet does not in any manner lessen the allegations made by the prosecution. On the contrary, filing of the charge-sheet establishes that after due investigation the investigating agency, having found materials, has placed the charge-sheet for trial of the accused persons." 67. Thus, this Court, after taking note of the settled legal proposition, is of view that the contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner is not tenable in the eye of law. 68. Now in the light of aforesaid discussion at th....
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.... (i) and (ii) PMLA. While undertaking this exercise, the Court is required to take a prima facie view on the basis of materials collected during investigation. The expression used in Section 45 of PMLA are "reasonable grounds for believing" which means that the Court has to find, from a prima facie view of the materials collected during investigation that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the accused has not committed the offence and that there is no likelihood of him committing an offence while on bail. Recently, in Tarun Kumar v Assistant Directorate of Enforcement, 2023 SCC Online SC 1486, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has held as under : "As well settled by now, the conditions specified under Section 45 are mandatory. They need to be complied with. The Court is required to be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of such offence and he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail. It is needless to say that as per the statutory presumption permitted under Section 24 of the Act, the Court or the Authority is entitled to presume unless the contrary is proved, that in any proceedings relating to proceeds of cr....
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....sses; (iii) reasonable possibility of securing the presence of the accused at the time of trial or the likelihood of his abscondence; (iv) character, behaviour and standing of the accused and the circumstances which are peculiar to the accused; (v) larger interest of the public or the State and similar other considerations." 76. This Court on the basis of aforesaid discussion factual aspect as also the legal position is of the view that there is no reason to believe by this Court that the petitioner is not involved managing the money said to be proceeds of crime. 77. This Court while considering the prayer for regular bail has taken into consideration that though the Court is not sitting in appeal on the order passed by learned court since this Court is exercising the power of Section 439 Cr.P.C but only for the purpose of considering the view which has been taken by learned court while rejecting the prayer for bail, this Court is also in agreement with the said view based upon the material surfaced in course of investigation, as referred hereinabove. On the issue of Parity 78. Now coming to the ground of parity as raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner, the l....
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....26. Another aspect of the case which needs emphasis is the manner in which the High Court has applied the principle of parity. By its two orders both dated 21-12-2020 [Pravinbhai Hirabhai Koli v. State of Gujarat, 2020 SCC OnLine Guj 2986] , [Khetabhai Parbatbhai Makwana v. State of Gujarat, 2020 SCC OnLine Guj 2988] , the High Court granted bail to Pravin Koli (A-10) and Kheta Parbat Koli (A-15). Parity was sought with Sidhdhrajsinh Bhagubha Vaghela (A-13) to whom bail was granted on 22-10-2020 [Siddhrajsinh Bhagubha Vaghela v. State of Gujarat, 2020 SCC OnLine Guj 2985] on the ground (as the High Court recorded) that he was "assigned similar role of armed with stick (sic)". Again, bail was granted to Vanraj Koli (A- 16) on the ground that he was armed with a wooden stick and on the ground that Pravin (A-10), Kheta (A-15) and Sidhdhrajsinh (A-13) who were armed with sticks had been granted bail. The High Court has evidently misunderstood the central aspect of what is meant by parity. Parity while granting bail must focus upon the role of the accused. Merely observing that another accused who was granted bail was armed with a similar weapon is not sufficient to determine whether a ....
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....e aforesaid settled position of law, thinks fit to refer herein distinguishable facts in the case of present petitioner to that the case of Krishna Kumar Saha. Further this Court also thinks fit to consider the allegation as alleged against the Pankaj Mishra and Prem Prakash also whose prayer of bails were rejected by the Court, to reach out the logical conclusion to the issue of parity. 83. This Court needs to go through the imputation of allegation against the Krishna Kumar Saha, which has been mentioned in the prosecution complaint which is being quoted as under: Krishna Kumar Saha The Accused No. 5 namely Krishna Kumar Saha is knowingly involved in money laundering and a party in illegal mining in plot no. 56, 59P, 60P, 211P, 212P, 225P, 203P and 210 of Mauja Chapande, Sahebganj. The investigation revealed that the total excavated volume from the above-mined100 Scen area was around 4,11,64,200 CFT. Considering even a maximum over bunden debris of 40%, the net stone excavation to around 2,46,98,520 CFT. Further, the accused Krishna Kumar Saha has acquired proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs. 2,17,00,000 in the bank accounts of his relatives out of which, he ....
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....he said Krishna Kumar Saha as per the allegation and it is pertinent to mention here that the bail of accused Pankaj Mishra with whom the close proximity of the present petitioner has been alleged has already been rejected by co-ordinate Bench of this Court vide order dated 08.02.2024 passed in B.A. No. 10861 of 2023. 87. This Court, having discussed the individual involvement of the petitioner and other accused persons, is of the view that the petitioner since has been found to be closely associated with the affairs of Pankaj Mishra since the phone number of the present petitioner has been found in the account open in the name of Pankaj Mishra as also money was deposited. 88. Applying the principle of parity, this Court is of the view as per the judgment rendered by the Hon'ble Apex Court rendered in Tarun Kumar (supra) that the benefit of parity is to be given if the facts/involvement of the petitioner, is identical to the persons with whom parity is being claimed. 89. This Court, on the basis of the discussion of the involvement of the petitioner, vis-à-vis, the other co-accused persons, is of the view that the case of the petitioner is quite distinguishable ....
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.... entire community is aggrieved if the economic offenders who ruin the economy of the State are not brought to book. A murder may be committed in the heat of moment upon passions being aroused. An economic offence is committed with cool calculation and deliberate design with an eye on personal profit regardless of the consequence to the community. A disregard for the interest of the community can be manifested only at the cost of forfeiting the trust and faith of the community in the system to administer justice in an even-handed manner without fear of criticism from the quarters which view white-collar crimes with a permissive eye unmindful of the damage done to the national economy and national interest." 24. While granting bail, the court has to keep in mind the nature of accusations, the nature of evidence in support thereof, the severity of the punishment which conviction will entail, the character of the accused, circumstances which are peculiar to the accused, reasonable possibility of securing the presence of the accused at the trial, reasonable apprehension of the witnesses being tampered with, the larger interests of the public/State and other similar consideratio....