TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (1) TMI 1264
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....MLA-2571/RP/2023 (Exem.) FPA-PMLA-6280/RP/2023, MP-PMLA-12573/RP/2023 (Stay) MP-PMLA-12574/RP/2023 (Exem.) FPA-PMLA-281/RP/2023 MP-PMLA-12576/RP/2023 (Stay) MP-PMLA-12577/RP/2023 (Exem.) FPA-PMLA-6282/RP/2023, MP-PMLA-12596/RP/2023 (Stay) MP-PMLA-12597/RP/2023 (Exem.) FPA-PMLA-6290/RP/2023, MP-PMLA-12765/RP/2023 (Exem.) FPA-PMLA-6334/RP/2023, MP-PMLA-12767/RP/2023 (Exem.) FPA-PMLA-6335/RP/2023, MP-PMLA-12769/RP/2023 (Exem.) FPA-PMLA-6336/RP/2023, MP-PMLA-12771/RP/2023 (Exem.) FPA-PMLA-6337/RP/2023, MP-PMLA-12773/RP/2023 (Exem.) FPA-PMLA-6338/RP/2023, MP-PMLA-12775/RP/2023 (Exem.) FPA-PMLA-6339/RP/2023, MP-PMLA-12762/RP/2023 (Stay) MP-PMLA-12763/RP/2023 (Exem.) MP-PMLA-12764/RP/2023 (COD) FPA-PMLA-6315/RP/2023, MP-PMLA-12561/RP/2023 (Stay) MP-PMLA-12763/RP/2023 (Exem.) FPA-PMLA-6275/RP/2023, FPA-PMLA-6265/RP/2023, FPA-PMLA-6266/RP/2023 Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari : Chairman Shri Rajesh Malhotra : Member For the Appellants : Shri Anshu Rai, Mr. Ravilochan Daliparthy, Mr. Rajan Parmar, Advocates (for Sr. no. 1-3) & Mr. Dushyant S. Chauhan, Mr. Abhinav Parihar, Advocates (for Sr. no. 4) & Mr. Nikhil Varshney, Pr. Preksha Mehndriatta, Advocates (for Sr. no. 5 & 20-21) & Ms. Akshat....
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....lvement of State Mining Officials/District Officials and Network Agents stationed in the coal belt. The syndicate operated in a well planned conspiracy, with delivery of orders only after illegal payment to the syndicate. Surya Kant Tiwari was assisted by the Government official like Smt. Saumya Chaurasia, Deputy Secretary, CMO (Chhattisgarh Administrative Officer), Sameer Vishnoi, Indian Administrative Services Officer and associates like Rajnikant Tiwari, Roshan Singh, Nikhil Chandrakar, Sheikh Moinudeen Qureshi, Hemant Jaiswal, Joginder Singh etc. 7. The collected money was to be distributed amongst the accused and even to settle the bribe money to the Government Officers and politicians to fund election expenditures. The investigation revealed that large portion of money has been channelized into layered transactions to project it as untainted money and brought into the main stream by investing in the properties, coal washeries and other assets. 8. In terms of the permission received from the learned Court of Metropolitan Magistrate, Bangalore, section 384 IPC was added in the FIR but while filing the chargesheet on 08.06.2023, it was not for the offence under section 384 IPC....
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....gly, the Court of Additional Chief Justice Magistrate, Bengaluru took cognizance of the offence under section 204 and 253 of IPC only. The two offences, for which cognizance was taken are not predicate offences and thereby ECIR was recorded without a scheduled offence so as the further proceedings, which is not permissible. III. No nexus between the appellant and alleged proceeds of crime (i) In majority of the appeals, the arguments were raised that appellants were not named as the accused in the FIR registered by Karnataka State Police and even in the ECIR recorded by the Zonal Office of Enforcement Directorate, Raipur. The appellants had no role or link in generation or concealment of alleged proceeds of crime. They disclosed the source for acquisition of the properties which were purchased by banking channel and was otherwise on the circle rates. (ii) It is further submitted that the Apex Court granted bail to the appellants Sunil Kumar Agarwal and LaxmiKant Tiwari by making observation that no predicate offence is existing. Thus, proceeding under the Act of 2002 should vitiate. (iii) In the light of the judgement of the Apex Court also, the impugned order deserves to....
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....a Kant Tiwari and associates. 11. Sunil Kumar Agarwal and its Companies were victims of extortion by the syndicate of Suryakant Tiwari. They were compelled to pay illegal amount of Rs. 25/- per ton for transportation of coal in the state of Chhattisgarh. They had no relation with the accused whatsoever. 12. It was further submitted that in the Income Tax raid on Surya Kant Tiwari conducted on 30.06.2022, many documents were collected but that itself could not have been taken to be a bar for the appellant Companies and promoter Sunil Kumar Agarwal from entering into any transaction with the persons so raided. It is otherwise a fact that no allegation exists against the appellant Sunil Kumar Agarwal and its companies for receiving tainted money to use it for the acquisition of properties. The similar arguments have been raised by other appellants. Arguments of the respondent 13. The learned counsel for the respondent had vehemently contested the appeals and raised elaborate arguments on each issue. 14. It is submitted that after registration of FIR number 129 on 12.07.2022 by Karnataka State Police for the offences under section 186, 204, 353 and 123 of IPC, the offence under s....
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....s to be issued by the Mining Officer manually and existing system of online approval needs to be done away. It was also mentioned on the very same page that the reason should be given for change from online to manual systems as "error in server". The Order dated 15.07.2020 enabled Shri Suryakant Tiwari to collect illegal levy of Rs. 25/ton from coal transportation by making the coal transporters dependent on the Mining Officials to give NOCs manually for timely pick up of the coal from mines. 17. For the collection of illegal levy, Shri Suryakant Tiwari deployed several associates in the districts from where coal is mined by SECL in the state of Chhattisgarh. The persons developed had liaison with Collectorate office and other agencies. Unless cash @ Rs. 25/ton for coal transportation is paid to associates of Suryakant Tiwari, the mining officer in the office of collectorate would not issue the requisite transit pass. That, once these associates of Shri Suryakant Tiwari receive the additional charge of Rs. 25/- per tonne of coal to be transported, the message is to be communicated to the Mining Officer and thereafter the delivery orders were to be cleared for transportation. The a....
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....nts on each common as well as separate issues raised by the appellants. It would be referred while dealing with the arguments of the appellants to avoid bulkiness of the order. 23. It is however submitted by the counsel for the respondent that arguments have been made to contest the appeal limited to the issues raised by the appellant during the course of the argument. 24. We realize that despite an opportunity given by the Tribunal, the appellants had restricted their arguments to the extent indicated in the first part of the order and accordingly we would be dealing with issues limited to what has been raised by the appellants during the course of arguments and accordingly our finding on each issue is as under:- FINDING OF THE TRIBUNAL Non-application of mind by the Adjudicating Authority 25. The learned counsel for the appellants submitted that the Adjudicating Authority failed to apply its mind and therefore impugned ordered serves to be set aside. It failed to even appreciate the arguments raised by the appellants. 26. To appreciate first argument, we have gone through the impugned order so as the record. The learned Adjudicating Authority has referred to the pleas tak....
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.... Tiwari in connection with the FIR No. 129 of 2022 registered at Kadugodi Police Station Bengaluru, and the ACJM Bengaluru vide the order dated 16.06.2023 having taken cognizance for the offence punishable under Section 204 and 353 IPC only, which are not the scheduled offences under the PMLA Act, no scheduled offence survived at the time of passing of the impugned order and that the proceedings were/are without jurisdiction. 27. Apart from the fact that neither the Chargesheet dated 08.06.2023 nor the cognizance order 16.06.2023 were placed on record during the course of arguments before the High Court as they never existed at that time, the I.O. in the Chargesheet filed in connection with the said FIR no. 129 of 2022 against Suryakant Tiwari has categorically mentioned that "as the accused (Suryakant Tiwari) found to be committed offence under Section 384 of IPC with his henchmen at Chhattisgarh State for which the report would be prayed to Chhattisgarh Police through proper channel." Hence, the offence under Section 384 could not be said to have been dropped by the I.O. while submitting the chargesheet in respect of the said FIR. 28. That apart, it is very much pertin....
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....transfer of the offence under section 384 of IPC to Chhattisgarh State Police. The FIR was then registered by Chhattisgarh State Police which was not only for the offence referred in the FIR but was with the addition of the offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and other schedule offences. In any case, we are not required to elaborate the issue having been decided by the Apex Court in reference to the same FIR and ECIR holding a case of predicate offence. 30. We are however required to deal with the two orders referred by the appellants on their bail application. The reference of the order of the Apex Court in the case of Sunil Kumar Agarwal in Special Appeal 5890/24 decided by the order 17.05.2024 has been given. We have gone through the order but do not find a conclusion on the issue rather the perusal of the order shows that the appeal was deferred to 07.08.2024 while granting interim bail to the appellant. The Apex Court found that the petitioner has already undergone incarceration for a period of 1 year and 7 months and was otherwise not named in the FIR, but without expressing any opinion on the issue, the interim bail was granted. The efforts of the appellant....
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....d not be the date when the FIR was lodged but the time of operation of crime because the FIR may be registered after finding an offence which may be in operation for substantial period. In the instant case, the syndicate of Suryakant Tiwari has not extorted money overnight but during the period of its operation which was started much prior to the registration of the FIR. It is otherwise settled law of the land that the properties acquired prior to the commission of the crime can also be made subject matter of the attachment if the proceeds are not available or vanished. The issue aforesaid has been dealt with by this Tribunal in the case of Shri Sadananda Nayak Vs. The Deputy Director, Directorate of Enforcement, Bhubaneswar decided by the order dated 14.10.2024 The relevant paras of the order are quoted hereunder:- 10. The Ld. Counsel for the appellant did not raise argument in reference to registration of the FIR and recording of the ECIR, followed by investigation where the role of the appellant for commission of crime has been found. The only argument raised was to challenge the attachment of three properties out of four. However, no argument was raised for the property acqui....
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....perty was not acquired or derived by the accused himself but he passed on money out of the crime to another person and he acquired the property, then also it would be considered to be the proceeds of crime to acquire the property. In any case, there should be an element for use of the proceeds directly or indirectly obtained out of the crime and thereby the property would have nexus with the crime. 14. In second part "the value of any such property" the definition aforesaid starts with "or" after the first part referred and discussed in the para above. The second part of the definition is commonly considered to be attachment of property of equivalent value. The second part applies when the property obtained or derived directly or indirectly out of the criminal activities is not available or vanished and, therefore, to secure the proceeds of equivalent value till completion of trial, it would fall under "the value of any such property" which is commonly taken to be the property of equivalent value. The case in hand falls in the second category of the definition of "proceeds of crime" because proceeds are not available and, therefore, the property of equivalent value is attached. ....
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....e enough to encompass the value of the property of proceeds of crime. Such interpretation would further the legislative intent in recovery of the proceeds of crime and vesting it in the Central Government for effective prevention of money laundering." The perusal of the para quoted above shows that the argument of the appellant that "the value of any such property" would be only when the proceeds have been taken out of India. The argument aforesaid was not accepted and it simplifies that the definition of "proceeds of crime" has three limbs and elaborate judgment to define the "proceeds of crime" was given by the Delhi High Court in the case of Axis Bank (supra). The relevant paras are quoted herein. "106. Among the three kinds of attachable properties mentioned above, the first may be referred to, for sake of convenience, as "tainted property" in as much as there would assumable be evidence to prima facie show that the source of (or consideration for) its acquisition is the product of specified crime, the essence of "money laundering" being its projection as "untainted property" (Section 3). This would include such property as may have been obtained or acquired by using the ....
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....lal Bidri (supra). The Ld. counsel did not refer the relevant para of the judgment in the case (supra), rather he referred Para 66 of the judgment of the Apex Court in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary (supra) which permits attachment only of the proceeds of crime. There cannot be any dispute that attachment can be only of the proceeds of crime but what would fall in the definition of "proceeds of crime" and clarified in Para 68 of the same judgment has not been taken into consideration whereas judgement of the Apex Court on the issue is binding on the High Court. 19. The reference to the judgment in the case of Pavana Dibur (supra) has been given where the Ld. Counsel for the parties did not refer Para 68 of the judgment in the case of Vijay Madanlal Choudhary (supra) decided by three judges of the Apex Court. In fact, elaborate arguments to define "proceeds of crime" on the issue were not raised by the parties after referring to the object of the Act of 2002 which was enacted out of the international convention. The Delhi High Court has discussed the issue elaborately and otherwise if we apply the judgement of Kerala High Court in the case of Satish Motilal Bidri (supra,) it would be m....
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....alent in value to the illegal pecuniary benefit or gain that may have been obtained as a result of criminal activity. 80. In the considered opinion of this Court to tie the Directorate's power to move forward in this direction only in cases where property is taken or held outside the country would not only do violence to the plain language of Section 2(1)(u), it would clearly whittle down the scope and intent of the definition itself. It would essentially amount to erasing the expression value of any such property as appearing in Section 2(1)(u) altogether. The Court further notes that in Seema Garg the learned Judges themselves observed that the phrase value of any such property would not mean and include any property which has no link, direct or indirect, with property derived or obtained from commission of a scheduled offence. The Court observes that Section 2(1)(u) clearly and in unambiguous terms includes not only property derived or obtained directly or indirectly as a result of criminal activity relating to a scheduled offence but also the value of any such property. Seema Garg thus seems to gloss over the statutory imperatives underlying the deployment of the phrase ―....
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....hat properties which were acquired prior to the enforcement of the Act may not be completely immune from action under the Act in light of what this Court had held in Axis Bank. As was explained by the Court in Axis Bank, the expression proceeds of crime envisage both ―tainted property as well as ―untainted property with it being permissible to proceed against the latter provided it is being attached as equal to the "value of any such property" or "property equivalent in value held within the country or abroad". However, both the italicised categories would be liable to be invoked in cases where the actual tainted property cannot be traced or found out. It is only where the respondents are unable to discover the tainted property that they can take the statutory recourse to move against properties which may fall within the ambit of ―value of any such property or ―property equivalent in value held within the country or abroad. To the aforesaid limited extent, properties purchased prior to 01 July 2005 may also become vulnerable and subject to action under the Act. However, enforcement action against such properties would have to satisfy the tests and safeguards....
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....hen it is vanished or siphoned off, the attachment can be of any property of equivalent value. It is necessary to clarify that the proceeds of crime would not only include the property derived or obtained directly or indirectly out of the criminal activity relating to the scheduled offence but any other property of equivalent value. The word "or" has been placed before "the value of any such property" and is of great significance. Any property of equivalent value can be attached when the proceeds directly or indirectly obtained out of the crime has been vanished or siphoned off. Here, the significance would be to the property acquired even prior to commission of crime. It is for the reason that any property acquired subsequent to the commission of crime would be directly or indirectly proceeds of crime and then, it would fall in the first limb of the definition of proceeds of crime. In the second limb, which refers to "the value of any such property" would indicate any other property which was acquired prior to the commission of crime and it would be attached only when the proceeds directly or indirectly obtained or derived out of the criminal activity is not available. It may b....
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.... Act of 2002. 36. To further analyze the issue, we may discuss the role of the person and the source to acquire the property. ROLE OF THE ACCUSED: 1. ROLE OF SH. SAMEER VISHNOI, IAS : Shri Sameer Vishnoi misused his official position and acting on the instructions of Shri Suryakant Tiwari issued the letter dated 15.07.2020 instructing for manual coal delivery orders by the concerned mining office instead of online. This in turn allowed Shri Suryakant Tiwari in connivance with the Mining Officers to illegally extort an amount of Rs. 25/ton for coal transportation. The issuance of the order dated 15.07.2020 at the instance of Suryakant Tiwari is corroborated from the record recovered from him. It is in lieu of passing the orders, Shri Suryakant Tiwari extended bribes for it to Shri Sameer Vishnoi out of the Proceeds of Crime. The Proceeds of Crime acquired as bribe by Shri Sameer Vishnoi was utilized by him for purchase of properties in the name of his wife Smt. Preeti Godara and entities related to her. It would be discussed with the case of Smt. Preeti Godara. 2. ROLE OF SMT. PREETI GODARA W/O SH. SAMEER VISHNOI : (i) Smt. Preeti Godara is the wife of Sameer Vishnoi, IA....
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....Sameer Vishnoi filed several appeals to claim legal ownership of the tainted property. (iv) With respect to the seizure of cash Rs. 21, 03,900, Preeti Godara stated that this money belongs to her brother-in-law Surya Prakash Punia. Surya Prakash Punia in his statement recorded u/s 50 of PMLA tried to create false ownership of the seized valuables and projected it as an untainted by concocting a false story. The persons named to claim ownership of movable properties failed to disclose source to acquire the property and disclosure in the Income Tax returns and Wealth Tax Returns. The subsequent statement of Preeti Godara could not stand to proof. List of properties purchased in the name of Mrs. Preeti Godara and her entities. Sr No. Description of property Name of owner Purchase date Purchase Value (Rs) Evidences of cash found so far 1 Khasra No 147, Area -0.210 hect., Mauza Pirda, Raipur. Smt Preeti Godara 30-03-2021 15,43,500/- 22,56,500 2 Khasra No. 375/19, Area 0.1620 hect., Mauza-Temri, Raipur. M/s Sri Preeti Trumala Agro Farm Pvt. Ltd. through its Managing Director, Preeti Godara 26-08-2021 23,60,000/- 1,40,00,000 3 Khasra....
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....me generated by the syndicate of Suryakant Tiwari. She acquired tainted assets by layering the ill-gotten cash from extortion. (ii) During the course of investigation it was revealed that the funds acquired out of extortion by the syndicate run by Mr. Suryakant Tiwari was moved to Manish Upadhyay, proxy of Ms. Saumya Chaurasia with ultimate utilization for purchase of land in the name of Ms. Shanti Devi (mother of Saumya Chaurasia), Sh. Anurag Chaurasia (Cousin) and Saurabh Modi(Husband). (iii) The entries of cash given to "MU" (Manish Upadhyay) were found in the handwritten diaries of Shri Suryakant Tiwari seized by the Income Tax Department. (iv) More than Rs. 30 Crore was attributed to Saumya Chaurasia as per the records. 4. ROLE OF SMT SHANTI DEVI CHAURASIA AND SH. ANURAG CHAURASIA:- (i) Smt. Shanti Devi Chaurasia: is mother of Saumya Chaurasia. She is a benami of Saumya Chaurasia, holding assets in her name without any source to acquire the properties. All the properties were purchased in the name of Shanti Devi Chaurasia during the crime period. The transactions of cash for land purchased in the name Smt Shanti Devi are reflected in the hand written diaries of....
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....) Shanti Devi Chaurasia, W/o Om Narayan Chaurasia 31.01.2022 5. Omprakash S/o Girjanand Gupta Total Rs. 30,15,000 Khasra No. 847 & 842, Area 1.1770 hec. Nagar Palika R.N.M., Aarang, Distt- Raipur (C.G.) Shanti Devi Chaurasia, W/o Om Narayan Chaurasia 31.01.2022 Total Area 4.183 Hectare Land at Hirri, Potiya & Sevti 6. Varsha Tank S/o Dipesh Tank Total Rs. 3,22,000 Khasra No. 2443/3, 942/3, Area 0.160 hec. Village Hirri, R.N.M.,Dhamdha, Shanti Devi Chaurasia & 04.03.2022 7. Depesh Taunk S/o Late Sh. Total Rs. Agriculture Land at Vill- Sevti, R.N.M., Dhamdha, Distt.- Shanti Devi Chaurasia 04.03.2022 8. Varsha Taunk W/o Deepesh Total Rs. 9,54,000 KH No. 14, 29/2, 46, 120/5, 28/1, 31, 120/4 Area 0.980 Shanti Devi Chaurasia W/o O.N. Chaurasia 04.03.2022 9. Varsha Taunk W/o Deepesh Total Rs. 25,55,000 Khasra No. 922/2, 923, 952/1 & 968, Area 2.590 hec., (1) Shanti Devi Chaurasia W/o O.N. Chaurasia 04.03.2022 10. Poonam Devi W/o Late. NiranjanTa Total Rs. 26,76,000 KH No. 15, 34, 38, 40/2, 43, 48/2, 32, 37, 39/2, 41, 44/2, Ar....
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....ement paper was seized by the Income Tax Department and sale deed of the same property. (vii) The value of the land is clearly given in the agreement at the rate of Rs. 42 Lakh per acre for a parcel of 2.3 hectares (5.75 acre) and a total of Rs. 34 Lakhs for the rest parcel of 0.31 hectares i.e a total of 5.75 x 42,00,000 + 34,00,000 = Rs. 2,77,50,000. However, the registration of the land has been done at a value of only Rs. 1,27,29,500/- Thus, an amount of approx. Rs. 1.5 Crore has been paid in cash by Suryakant Tiwari out of the proceeds of crime generated from the coal levy scam. The agreement signed by Laxmikant Tiwari itself mentions about advance of Rs. 26 lakhs in cash, paid as advance to the representative of the sellers "Khoobchand Chandrakar" . (viii) The properties in question were sold by Sh. Deepesh Taunk, one of the accused in 2nd Prosecution Complaint, dated 30.01.2023, and his family members. He claimed that no cash was received as part of sale consideration of the land. However, there were huge cash deposits made in their bank accounts just prior to registry of this land. Deepesh Taunk in his statement recorded u/s 50 of PMLA accepted cash deposit in his ....
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....n Village- Jevra. The Diary entry reflect Rs. 5 Crore cash paid for land deals. 2 Crore of which was for Sevti land and Rs. 3 Crore is for land at Jevra. The source to acquire these lands by the appellants has not been disclosed. The following properties belongs to him:- Land at Jewra 19. Smt. Jagriti Ramwani W/o Shri Prakash Ramwani Total Rs. 15,50,000 Khasra No. 104/9, Area0.330 Hec. at Village-Jewra, Teh. & Distt.- Durg. Sourabh S/o Shri A L Modi 14.02.2022 20. Smt. Manisha Jumnani W/o Shri Gopi Jumnani Total Rs. 28,00,000 Khasra No. 104/8, Area0.070 Hec. at Village-Jewra, Teh. & Distt.- Durg. Sourabh S/o Shri A L Modi 18.02.2022 Total Area 0.4 Hect. (ii) The entries at page-19 (backside) of the handwritten diaries seized by Income Tax Department shows a payment of Rs. 3 Crore to Manish Upadhyay forland at Jevra which has been purchased in the name of Shri Sourabh Modi. (iii) The registration of land at village Jevra in the name of Saurabh Modi was done on 18.02.2022 and the date of entry in the seized diaries by Income Tax Department is matching the registration date of the said properties. (iv) He has failed to disclose the source fo....
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....chedule offence and has acquired properties (benami & otherwise) out of it and projected them as untainted property. He has also layered part of Proceeds of Crime in purchase of Coal Washeries through his company, M/s Maa Madwarani Coal Beneficiation Ltd. He has tried to conceal those properties purchased out of Proceeds of Crime by selling them to M/s Indermani Group & others so as to prevent attachment of these properties by the Directorate of Enforcement. PROPERTIES ACQUIRED IN THE NAME OF DIFFERENT PERSONS OF SURYAKANT TIWARI. S No Description of properties Purchase date & Amount Sold to Indermani Date Amount & Evidences of cash found so far Shri Navneet Tiwari : He is the cousin of Suryakant Tiwari and he used to collect extortion money in Raigarh district as per instruction of Suryakant Tiwari. 1. Khasra no. 516, 518 admeasuring to 0.40 Hectare, Mauza Gram Belsonda, Patwari Halka No. 36, Tehsil + Dist- Mahasamund. 28-06-2021 Rs. 9,60,120/- 12-08-2022 Rs. 9,60,500/- Shri Navneet Tiwari and his wife Smt. Abhika Tiwari 2. Khasra no. 912 (0.37 Hect), 913(0.88 Hect), 914(0.87 Hect), 915(0.80 Hect), 916(0.53 Hect), total admeasuring to 3.45 Hectare, Mau....
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....a-371.74 sq.meter or 4000 sq, feet, The/Dist-Raipur 30-12-2021 Rs. 98,88,840/- cheque and Rs. 98889/- TDS 05.08.2022 Rs. 1,09,11,000/- 12. KH.N . 64/3, Gram- Mordha, RNM Teh & Distt.- Mahasamund 09.06.2021 Rs. 286,500/- - Smt. Divya Tiwari : She is the wife and benamidar of Suryakant Tiwari. 13. Khasra no. 1430, 1431, 1435/1, 1435/2, 1435/3, 1435/4 & 1437 admeasuring to 0.96 Hectarrea 1.14 Hectare), Gram Khatti, PH No.- 29, Tehsil + Dist Mahasamund. 13-01-2021 Rs. 20,67,000/- cheque 12.08.2022 Rs. 20,67,000/- cheque 14,33,000 14. Khasra no. 486/24(New 486/124), Mauza-Mahasamund, Area-0.0558 Hec. / 6000 Sq. feet. 08-03-2022 Rs. 17,04,000/- (cheque) 16.08.2022 Rs.19,60,000/- Shri Laxmikant Tiwari: He is uncle and benamidar of several properties of Mr. Suryakant Tiwari. 15. Khasra - 525/2, Area-0.12 Hec., Mauza Gram- Amawash, Tumgoan, Distt.- Mahasamund. 13-05-2022 Rs. 1,25,000(Cheque ) 22.08.2022 Rs.1,25,000(Cheq ue) 16. Kh. No. 339/4 (Part of 339/1), Area-0.2200 Hec., Vill-Belsonda, Tehsil & Distt-Mahasamund Rs 12-11-202, 12,11,000/- cheque Rs. 16.08.2022, 14,66,100/- M/s Riddhi Siddhi Buildcon : Mr. Rajnikant ....
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....m M/s Prithvi Build con which is a partnership firm operated by Mr. Santosh Singh Inda who in is statements confirmed that as per instruction of Suryakant Tiwari, he transferred money to Sonali Dubey through his firm. Multiple bank account receipts were found in digital devices which indicate that cash deposits were made in her account. She did not appear for providing statement despite multiple summonses. (v)On scrutiny of the bank account of wife of Shesh Charan Tiwari, cash deposits entries were found. Further, some entries related to cash deposits in the bank account of wife of Shesh Charan Tiwari as. "Vrinda vati Mahila Nagrik" were also found in the seized handwritten diaries by Income Tax Department. Vrinda vati Mahila Nagrik is a bank in which Shesh Charan Tiwari's wife has an account. (vi) Shri Avinash Pandey, in his statement u/s 50 of PMLA, 2002 stated that Suryakant Tiwari sourced the amount used in purchase of the property in question. Shri ND Aggarwal, the entry provider in his statement has submitted that he had arranged the entries to M/s A. A. Buildcon through his firm against cash. Moreover, several entries pertaining to payment of cash to Shri ND Agarwa....
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....s in cash as sale consideration for sale of the said land and the remaining amount was paid through banking channel. 8. ROLE OF SUNIL KUMAR AGRAWAL (i) Sunil Agrawal is promoter of M/s Indermani Group. He was having close relationship with Shri Suryakant Tiwari. The investigation revealed that Shri Sunil Agrawal had helped Shri Surykant Tiwari in acquiring coal washeries of M/s Indus Udyog and M/s Satya Power. These coal washeries were acquired for a sum of Rs. 96 Crore, out of which Rs. 34 Crore was the registered value. It was paid through banking channel and rest of the amount was to be paid in cash. Thus, large amount of illegally acquired cash was layered in these transactions. After the Income Tax raids, he made sham paper transactions to show that he was the owner of these two washeries. Those transactions were nothing but a futile attempt to alienate the ill-gotten proceeds of crime and take away from the arms of the ED and to prevent their attachment. Sunil Agarwal knowingly and willingly participated in these transactions to layer and obfuscate the real ownership of tainted properties. He knowingly acted as a benami for Suryakant Tiwari and has assisted in the money ....
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....dyog and Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, Director - Sh. Ashish Kumar Agrawal, S/o - Sh. Rajkumar Agrawal (Deed dated 03.06.2022) Rs. 7,30,000/- (Cheque) Maa Madwarani Coal Benification Pvt Ltd, 5 Khasra no. 259/1, 259/4 admeasuring to 0.1220 Hectare, Mauza GramJamnipali, Patwari Halka No. 13, RNM - Kothari/Kartala, Tehsil - Kartala, Distt. - Korba Indus Udyog and Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, Director - Sh. Ashish Kumar Agrawal, S/o - Sh. Rajkumar Agrawal (Deed dated 03.06.2022) Rs. 3,00,000/- cheque Maa Madwarani Coal Benification Pvt Ltd, 6 Khasra no. 168/1, 217/1 admeasuring to 0.142 Hectare, Mauza Gram Pachpedi, Patwari Halka No. 13, RNM - Kothari/Kartala, Tehsil - Kartala, Distt. - Korba Indus Udyog and Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, Director - Sh. Ashish Kumar Agrawal, S/o - Sh. Rajkumar Agrawal (Deed dated 26.05.2022) Rs. 3,50,000/- (Cheque) Maa Madwarani Coal Benification Pvt Ltd, Rs. 12,23,000/- (Cheque/DD) 02.08.2022 7 Khasra no. 141/1 admeasuring to 0.145 Hectare, Mauza Gram Pachpedi, Patwari Halka No. 13, RNM - Kothari/Kartala, Tehsil - Kartala, Distt. - Korba Indus Udyog and Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, Director - Sh. Ashish Kumar Agrawal, S/o - Sh. Rajkumar Agrawal (Deed dated....
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....e was the owner of these 2 washeries and registered the same in the name of his firm M/s KJSL Coal & Power Pvt Ltd. (iv) All the properties were purchased in the year 2020. The appellant did not bring cogent evidence to prove source to acquire all those properties. It was all during the period of crime and properties were purchased involving huge cash. 10. M/S INDERMANI MINERALS INDIA PVT. LTD (i) Sunil Kumar Agrawal purchased all the properties (Benami & otherwise) of Shri Suryakant Tiwari after the Income Tax raids to prevent attachment of these properties by the Directorate of Enforcement. Few properties were purchased prior to 15.07.2020 by Suryakant Tiwari in the name of benamidars which was sold to Sunil Kumar Agrawal just after Income Tax raid to evade the possibilities of attachment. (ii) The appellant M/s. Indermani Minerals India Pvt. Ltd claimed that out of 52 properties, 29 were purchased before the commission of crime. Thus, it would not fall within the definition of the proceeds of crime. The further statement is that the source to purchase the properties were disclosed. (iii) We do not find any material in the appeal to substantiate the same. The appell....
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....l condition. It was submitted that as per the ITR of 2022-23, the company was having profit of a sum of Rs. 70.14 crores with its net worth of Rs. 287.42 crores. The reference of the ITR has been given without showing it to have presented before the Adjudicating Authority and further more, it would not justify the properties purchased prior to the financial year 2022-23. 38. The statement recorded under section 50 of the Act of 2002 coupled with the documents seized from the custody of Suryakant Tiwari are sufficient to show layering of proceeds of crime and to channelize the same, immovable properties were purchased. The appellant Company has not purchased one or two properties, rather purchased as many as 52 properties without showing the source and document to prove it. In the appeal filed by them, even the Income Tax Return for financial year 2022-2023 was not enclosed. It was submitted later without showing its relevance for purchase of properties prior to it. 39. In the light of the aforesaid, we find that merely using the banking channel for purchase of the property by layering the money with deposit of cash in the Bank without disclosing the source with the material and p....