TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (2) TMI 484
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....d statement of various persons alleged to be part of the liquor syndicate including the applicant. 3. The applicant was arrested on 01.07.2024 by the ED for the alleged offence punishable under Sections 3 & 4 of the PMLA, 2002 in relation to the ECIR 04. This ECIR 04 is identical to the investigation carried out by it previously in relation to another ECIR bearing ECIR No. ECIR/RPZO/11/2022. The applicant was arrested in relation to ECIR 11 and has undergone 10 months of custody. The proceedings in relation to ECIR 11 were ultimately quashed by the Apex Court with a finding that there were no proceeds of Crime therein. Immediately thereafter the ED registered ECIR04 to investigate the case which was quashed by the Apex Court. Despite having in custody for 14 days, the applicant was remanded by the learned Special Judge to a further custody of 8 days and subsequently remanded to judicial custody. The applicant preferred application before the Special Judge (PMLA) ASJ-04, Raipur seeking regular bail which was dismissed vide order dated 8.10.2024. 4. Apart from the instant case, following cases are pending against the applicant. 1. FIR No. 04/2024 registered by the ACB,....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....08.2024 and the investigation against the applicant is complete therefore no fruitful purpose would be served to keep the applicant in custody during the trial which is yet to be commenced. He further contended that the prosecution agency has filed three charge sheets against the applicant ie. 19.06.2024, 27.09.2024 and 5.10.2024 and there are 35 witnesses in all and the said ECIR is against nine accused persons spanning into over 21,000 pages. It is further contended that 3-4 charge sheets are yet to be filed in the scheduled offence which would evidently prolong the proceeding under the PMLA being contingent on the proceeding in the scheduled offence resulting in trial. He further submits that the imprisonment before conviction is also punitive amounting to violation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India. 9. Further contention of the counsel for the applicant is that the ED is relying upon the same alleged material that was collected illegally during the course of investigation carried out in relation to the first and second ECIR. He contended that the applicant cannot be prejudiced and his legal rights can't be violated because of the illegal actions of the ED in the fir....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... as bail is the rule and jail is exception even in cases pertaining to the PMLA. He has placed his reliance in the matter of Ramkripal Meena Vs. Directorate of Enforcement, SLP (Crl.) No.3205/2024, wherein the Apex Court has held that : "7. Adverting to the prayer for grant of bail in the instant case, it is pointed out by the learned counsel for the ED that the complaint case is at the stage of framing of charges and 24 witnesses are proposed to be examined. The conclusion of proceedings, thus, will take some reasonable time. The petitioner has already been in custody for more than a year. Taking into consideration the period spent in custody and there being no likelihood of conclusion of trial within a short span, coupled with the fact that the petitioner is already on bail in the predicate offence, and keeping in view the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, it seems to us that the rigours of Section 45 of the Act can be suitably relaxed to afford conditional liberty to the petitioner. Ordered accordingly." 12. He submits that time and again it has been reiterated by the Apex Court that the right to speedy trial is a facet of the Fundamental right to life of....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....an accused should not be granted bail under the PML Act till he has suffered incarceration for the specified period. This Court, in Arnab Manoranjan Goswami v. State of Maharashtra and Others (2021) 2 SCC 427, held that while ensuring proper enforcement of criminal law on one hand, the court must be conscious that liberty across human eras is as tenacious as tenacious can be. 29. Detention or jail before being pronounced guilty of an offence should not become punishment without trial. If the trial gets protracted despite assurances of the prosecution, and it is clear that case will not be decided within a foreseeable time, the prayer for bail may be meritorious. While the prosecution may pertain to an economic offence, yet it may not be proper to equate these cases with those punishable with death, imprisonment for life, ten years or more like offences under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, murder, cases of rape, dacoity, kidnapping for ransom, mass violence, etc. Neither is this a case where 100/1000s of depositors have been defrauded. The allegations have to be established and proven. The right to bail in cases of delay, coupled with incarceratio....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....that this Court, in the first round of litigation between the parties, has specifically observed that in case of delay coupled with incarceration for a long period and depending on the nature of the allegations, the right to bail will have to be read into Section 45 of PMLA. XXXX XXXX XXXX 39. A Division Bench of this Court in the case of Ramkripal Meena v. Directorate of Enforcement was considering an application of the petitioner therein who was SLP(Crl.) No. 3205 of 2024 dated 30.07.2024 to receive a bribe of rupees five crore and from whom, an amount of Rs. 46,00,000/- was already recovered. In the said case, the petitioner was arrested on 26th January 2022 in connection with FIR No. 402/2021 registered against him for the offences punishable under Sections 406, 420, 120B of IPC and Section 4/6 of the Rajasthan Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 1992. He was released on bail by this Court vide order dated 18th January 2023. Thereafter, the petitioner was arrested by the ED on 21st June 2023. The Court observed thus: "7. Adverting to the prayer for grant of bail in the instant case, it is pointed out by learned counsel for ED that the....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....sed to have a speedy trial as enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution then the State or any other prosecuting agency should not oppose the plea for bail on the ground that the crime committed is serious. Article 21 of the Constitution applies irrespective of the nature of the crime." 15. He contended that Section 436-A Cr.P.C. should not be construed as a mandate that an accused should not be granted bail under the PMLA till he has suffered incarceration for the specified period of half of the maximum period of imprisonment. The detention or jail before being pronounced the guilty of an offence should not become punishment without trial. As has been held by the Apex Court in the case of Manish Sisodia 1, (2023) SCC OnLine 1393. the right to bail in cases of delay coupled with incarceration for a long period should be read into Section 439 cr.P.C. and Section 45 of the PMLA. The reason is that the constitutional mandate is the higher law and it is the basic right of the person charged of an offence and not convicted, he be given a speedy trial. When the trial is not proceeding for reasons not attributable to the accused, the court unless there are good reasons may well be ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....d 120B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Section 447 of the Companies Act, 2013, on terms and conditions to be fixed by the trial court." 18. In the matter of Kalvakunta Kavitha Vs. ED SLP (Crl.) No. 10778 of 2024, it has been held as under: "10. On perusal of the record, we find that in CBI case charge-sheet has been filed and in ED case complaint has been filed. As such, the custody of the appellant herein is not necessary for the purpose of investigation. 11. The appellant has been behind the bars for the last five months. As observed by us in the case of Manish Sisodia (supra), taking into consideration that there are about 493 witnesses to be examined and the documents to be considered are in the range of about 50,000 pages, the likelihood of the trial being concluded in near future is impossible. 12. Relying on the various pronouncements of this Court, we had observed in the case of Manish Sisodia (supra) that the prolonged incarceration before being pronounced guilty of an offence should not be permitted to become punishment without trial. 13. We had also reiterated the well-established principle that "bail is the rule and refusal is a....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....OnLine SC 1506, it has been observed as under: "7. The appellant is in custody since 28 August 2019. 187 accused are named in the criminal case by the prosecution. It is stated in the counter affidavit that all except 27 of them have appeared. It is evident that even as regards the balance, 4 (2019) 9 SCC 165 proclamation proceedings are intended to be initiated pursuant to the order of the Special judge dated 25 March 2022. The proceedings are now listed before the Special Judge in July 2022. 9. While the provisions of Section 212 (6) of the Companies Act 2013 must be borne in mind, equally, it is necessary to protect the constitutional right to an expeditious trial in a situation where a large number of accused implicated in a criminal trial would necessarily result in a delay in its conclusion. The role of the appellant must be distinguished from the role of the main accused." 22. In the case of Sujay U Desai Vs. SFIO, 2022 SCC OnLine SC1507, it has been held as under: "7. Having duly considered the provisions of Section 212 (6) of the Companies Act, 2013, we are of the view that in the facts of the present case, the appellant ought to be granted th....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....usal is the exception so as to ensure that the accused has the opportunity of securing fair trial. However, while considering the same the gravity of the offence is an aspect which is required to be kept in view by the Court. The gravity for the said purpose will have to be gathered from the facts and circumstances arising in each case. Keeping in view the consequences that would befall on the society in cases of financial irregularities, it has been held that even economic offences would fall under the category of "grave offence" and in such circumstance while considering the application for bail in such matters, the Court will have to deal with the same, being sensitive to the nature of allegation made against the accused. One of the circumstances to consider the gravity of the offence is also the term of sentence that is prescribed for the offence the accused is alleged to have committed. Such consideration with regard to the gravity of offence is a factor which is in addition to the triple test or the tripod test that would be normally applied. In that regard what is also to be kept in perspective is that even if the allegation is one of grave economic offence, it is not a rule....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....23, the truck containing 800 boxes of illegal liquor was caught by the police which was supplied by the M/s. Chhattisgarh Distillery to Bastar with duplicate holograms on bottles and was handed over to the Excise Commissioner. These duplicate holograms were already used by M/s. Welcome Distillery. This clearly shows that the distillers are in habit of supplying unaccounted liquor in connivance with low level excise officers for financial gain and have concocted a complete false story to implicate other individuals and save themselves. 28. It is submitted that as per ED, it is alleged that liquor scam is of Rs. 2161 crores. As per EOW the liquor scam is of Rs. 1660 crores. As per the STF, the liquor same is of Rs. 3200 crores. All this established that the investigation is being conducted by different agencies and calculating different numbers which is baseless. Further the alleged chats being relied upon is of February 2020 and the allegations are made for the period between April 2019-February 2023. it is contended that the allegation of the ED that the collection of bribe by sale of Part-B liquor is on the basis of assumptions and have tried to implicate the officer by using c....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... evidence is on record to infer as to whom the money belonged and how the petitioner was beneficiary." 30. In yet another decision Chandra Prakash Khandelwal Vs. ED (2023) SCC OnLine Del 1094, it has been held as under: "34. Considering the submission of the petitioner, viz. the petitioner's claim he did not have knowledge if the funds of M/s. PACL were tainted in any manner on account of an order dated 28.11.2003 of Rajasthan High Court in PACL India Ltd. vs. Union of India as also an order dated 26.02.2013 in SEBI vs. PACL India Ltd. in CA 6753-54/2004 wherein, the Hon'ble Supreme Court refused to classify M/s. PACL as CIS but had only directed the SEBI on 22.08.2014 to look into its affairs and that there was no embargo for 18 years upon M/s. PACL on its operation. Admittedly the petitioner was a downstream investor of funds hence his submission he did not knowingly became a party to money-laundering cannot be brushed aside lightly. Even otherwise he allegedly was a nominee non-executive director since 11.09.2012 in M/s. DDPL and M/s. Unicorn and prior to 11.09.2012 had nothing to do with these companies; further substantial amount received in the companies o....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....r v. Lalit Mohan Chuckerbutty ((1911) I.L.R. 38 Cal. 559 at p. 588.) a confession can only be used to "lend assurance to other evidence against a co-accused". In In re. Peryaswami Noopan,(1913) I.L.R. 54 Mad. 75 at p. 77.) Reilly J. observed that the provision of s. 30 goes not further than this : "where there is evidence against the co-accused sufficient, if,. believed, to support his conviction, then the kind of confession described in s. 30 may be thrown into the scale as an additional reason for believing that evidence." In Bhuboni Sahu v. King(1949) 76 I.A. 147 at p. 155.) the Privy Council has expressed the same view. Sir. John Beaumont who spoke for the Board observed that a confession of a co-accused is obviously evidence of a very weak type. It does not indeed come within the definition of "evidence" contained in s. 3 of the Evidence Act. It is not required to be given on oath, nor in the presence of the accused, and it cannot be tested by cross-examination. It is a much weaker type of evidence than the evidence of an approver, which is not subject to any of those infirmities. Section 30, however, provides that the Court may take the confession into consideration and there....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... to the argument urged before us by Mr. Singh that the said evidence can be said to prove the prosecution case. In fact, the judgment of the High Court shows that it made a finding against the appellants substantially because it thought that the confessions of the co-accused persons could be first considered and the rest of the evidence could be treated as corroborating the said confessions. We are, therefore, satisfied that the High Court was not right in confirming the conviction of the two appellants under S. 396, of the Indian Penal Code." 32. In the matter of Sanjay Jain Vs. ED. 2024 SCC OnLine SC 656, it has been held that : "62. Thus, the confessional statement of a co-accused under Section 50 of the PMLA is not a substantive piece of evidence and can be used only for the purpose of corroboration in support of other evidence to lend assurance to the Court in arriving at a conclusion of guilt." 33. He contended that the none of them had admitted to the fictitious liquor scam in their statement under Section 131 (1A) It Act before the IT Department which is as much a judicial proceeding as the statement recorded under Section 50 of the PMLA. Nothing has been men....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....nt, neither any change has been brought in the existing liquor policy nor any license of any hologram manufacturer/distiller/cash collection agency have been cancelled and no action has been taken under Section 8 of the PC Act against these individuals by any investigating agency. He submits that the liquor trade has been continuing as usual in the State of Chhattisgarh despite the passage of nearly 10 months since the new government came into power. This shows that either the new government is also complicit and part of the alleged liquor syndicate or the entire set of allegations made by the ED are fictitious and imaginary and therefore the pick and choose manner of investigation entitles the applicant to bail. 37. He contended that the there is no material on record to suggest that the applicant does not satisfy the triple test as there is no allegation that he would either tamper with any evidence or influence any witness if granted bail. Mere apprehension of the investigating agency without any substantial basis for the same cannot be a ground for denying bail to the applicant. In the matter of P. Chidambaram Vs. Central Bureau of Investigation (2020) 13 SCC 337, wherein it....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ns on the applicant while granting bail. He has further referred to the judgment of Bibhav Kumar Vs. State of NCT of Delhi in SLP (Crl.) No. 9817 of 2024, it has been held that : "6. Learned Additional Solicitor General of India as well as learned counsel for the complainant-victim have vehemently argued that owing to the official status, which the petitioner has been enjoying in the past, and his political clout, he is likely to influence the private vulnerable witnesses whose versions will have material bearing on determining the nature and manner of occurrence that took place on 13.05.2024. It is, thus, urged that the prayer for bail may be deferred till such time the vulnerable witnesses are examined by the Trial Court." 39. He submits that the ground of arrest and the reason to believe do not meet the threshold of Section 19 PMLA and are grossly insufficient and there can be no necessity of arrest in the in the instant case. It is trite law that the provisions of Section 19 are mandatory and the compliance of the said provisions is a solemn function of the arresting authority which brooks no exception. He further submits that since all the material is illegal and n....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....7 & 12 of the PC Act, 1988 against Anit Tuteja (Retired IAS) the then Joint Secretary in CG State, Anwar Dhebar, Arunpati Tripathi (ITS) the then Special Secretary, Government of Commerce and Industry Department and MD, CG State Marketing Corporation Ltd., Vikas Agrawal @ Subbu, Sanjay Diwan and others for collecting commissions and supplying unaccounted liquor to government liquor shops in an approximate loss of Rs. 2161 crores to the Government. As per the FIR, (a) the manufacturer of country liquor in the State of Chhattisgarh namely CG Distilleries Ltd., M/s. Bhatia Wine Merchant Private Ltd. and Welcome Distilleries Pvt. Limited are licensed to supply country liquor in the State. (b) that accused Anwar Dhebar took advantage of his political influence and family relations with another accused Anil Tuteja and in association with one Arun Pati Tripathi, the Managing Director of CSMCL lead to increase the rate of liquor production and supply and in return, gained illegal commission amounting to lacs of rupees from the distillery owners. This mechanism is called Part -A. (c) Similarly a new system which run parallel to the existing system of selling count....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ers directly and IMFL from another State PSU CSBCL. 43. It has also been revealed that with the advent of new policy in the State, CSMCL was incorporated and it established its own stores to retain the liquor/beer/wine/country liquor after procuring country liquor directly from manufacturers and IMFL was procured from suppliers and stored in warehouses of another Stte Public Sector Undertaking, Chhattsigarh State Beverage Corporation Limited (CSBCL). The shops were supposed to be run by outsourced staff and cash collected was to be done by private vendors/Bank representatives. 44. Liquor was divided into two categories namely Country liquor and Indian Manufactured Foreign Liquor (IMFL). Country Liquor was produced in the State of Chhattisgarh through three distilleries : I) M/s. Chhattisgarh Distilleries Ltd. ii) M/s. Bhatia Wines and Merchants Pvt. Ltd. iii) M/s. Welcome Distilleries Pvt. Ltd. The CSMCL became the tool in the hands of the syndicate which was used by it to enforce a parallel excise department. The syndicate comprises of senior bureaucrats of State, politicians and officials of excise department. In February 2019, Arun Pati Tripat....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....that he was in touch with the present applicant. Some of the incriminating chats are taken into record which shows the role of the applicant and when confronted he ha acknowledged that the chats belong to him and the co-accused Anwar Dhebar. From the chats, it is seen that the details of produce including Part-B of the three country liquor manufacturers in Chhattisgarh. He submits that the applicant along with one Vikas Agrawal had earned Rs. 40 crores from Part-B liquor sale. He was the key player in the syndicate and convenor of meeting of the distillers and Anwar Dhebar about introduction of Part-A commission. The applicant was supported by his nephew Amit Singh in this whole operation and their main role included logistics related to sale of Part-B liquor. The applicant and his nephew were also responsible for the transportation of Part-B liquor supply of duplicate hologram, supply of empty bottles for Part-B liquor. It is further contended by the counsel for the respondent that the applicant in association with his nephew had also considerable amount of proceeds of crime which is relatable aspects including transportation of Part-B liquor and supply of un invoiced empty bottle....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... around Rs. 2.39 crores from Nagendra Singh and his family member and these funds were ultimately utilized in purchase of assets in the name of company. 51. Shri Pandey contended that the applicant had adopted the concept of over invoicing the services and obtained direct commission fro the distillers. He had set up firms like M/s. Jagdamba Enterprises and collected commission from distillers in the name of transportation of liquor. The payment so collected was utilized by the family of the applicant and the commission received in the bank accounts of M/s. Jagdamba Enterprises was also transferred to the members of the syndicate and for purchase of properties. 52. It is contended that during investigation, it has been revealed that the applicant leveraged his influence to enter the business of supplying bottles to the liquor syndicate and to facilitate this, he established a firm named M/s. ADIP empire under the name of his wife. This firm was involved in supplying bottles to M/s. Welcome Distilleries Ltd. The firm was also involved in the transportation however later switched its profile to trading of bottles. The investigation has thus revealed that the actual supply of bot....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....fact that his nephew Abhishek Singh was also one of the directors in FL-10A licensee company. 56. It is contended that the applicant had also set up companies to earn commission and transportation related to Part-B. The fund trial investigation has also revealed funds from M/s. Jagdamba Enterprises for purchase of assets related to the wife of the applicant. The applicant has also helped in commission of the offence of money-laundering by arranging bank entries and loans in the bank account of M/s. Top Security and Facility Management against cash. The applicant has also played a key role in getting bank entry worth Rs. 60 crores to accused Anwar Dhebar. He has also arranged bank entry of Rs. 2 crores against cash in the bank account of his wife for investing in the share market. In this manner, the proceeds of crime has been used by the applicant and profit made by the wife of the applicant has been freezed. 57. the reply to the contention of the applicant that the applicant has already been arrested by the same agency for the same offence on same facts and therefore the second arrest of the applicant is illegal in terms of law, to which it has been contended by Shri Pandey,....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....run Pati Tripathi) in Writ Petition (Crl.) No.216/2023 is concerned, is hereby quashed. The Writ Petition is, accordingly, allowed; (iv) There will be no order as to costs; and (v) Pending applications, including those seeking impleadment, are disposed of accordingly. 10. At this stage, the learned ASG stated that, based on another First Information Report, which, according to him, involves a scheduled offence, criminal proceedings under the PMLA are likely to be initiated against the petitioners. It is not necessary for us to go into the issue of the legality and validity of the proceedings that are likely to be initiated at this stage. Therefore, all the contentions in that regard are left open to be decided in appropriate proceedings." 59. It is submitted that the ECIR/11/2022 recorded on 18.11.2022 on the basis of Income Tax Complaint filed before the Tiss Hazari Court, Delhi while ECIR/04/2024 was recorded on the basis of FIR No. 04/2024 dated 17.01.2024 registered by EOW/ACB, Raipur, Chhattisgarh Police under Sections 420,46,7,468,471 and 120-B IPC and 7 & 12 of the PC Act, Sections 120-B, 420,467 and 471 of IPC and 7 & 12 of the PC Act ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....d in the decision of the Apex Court in the matter of Gurwinder Singh Vs. State of Punjab & Another in SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (CRIMINAL) No.10047 of 2023, it has been held as under: "32. The Appellant's counsel has relied upon the case of KA Najeeb (supra) to back its contention that the appellant has been in jail for last five years which is contrary to law laid down in the said case. While this argument may appear compelling at first glance, it lacks depth and substance. In KA Najeeb's case this court was confronted with a circumstance wherein except the respondent-accused, other co-accused had already undergone trial and were sentenced to imprisonment of not exceeding eight years therefore this court's decision to consider bail was grounded in the anticipation of the impending sentence that the respondent-accused might face upon conviction and since the respondent-accused had already served portion of the maximum imprisonment i.e., more than five years, this court took it as a factor influencing its assessment to grant bail. Further, in KA Najeeb's case the trial of the respondent-accused was severed from the other co-accused owing to his absconding and he was traced bac....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... prevail over the general provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure in case of any conflict. 29. Section 45 of the PMLA starts with a non obstante clause which indicates that the provisions laid down in Section 45 of the PMLA will have overriding effect on the general provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure in case of conflict between them. Section 45 of the PMLA imposes following two conditions for grant of bail to any person accused of an offence punishable for a term of imprisonment of more than three years under Part-A of the Schedule of the PMLA: (i) That the prosecutor must be given an opportunity to oppose the application for bail; and (ii) That the Court must be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused person is not guilty of such offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail. 30. The conditions specified under Section 45 of the PMLA are mandatory and needs to be complied with which is further strengthened by the provisions of Section 65 and also Section 71 of the PMLA. Section 65 requires that the provisions of Cr.P.C. shall apply in so far as they are not inconsistent with the provisions o....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....IR 11 has already stood filed thus there is no necessity for the continued incarceration of the applicant in reply to this contention of the applicant, Shri Pandey submits that the ECIR/11/2022 was recorded on 18.11.2022 on the basis of Income Tax complaint filed before the Tiss Hazari Court Delhi while ECIR/04/2024 was recorded on the basis of FIR No. 04/2024 dated 17.01.2024 registered by EOW/ACB Raipur, Chhattisgarh Police under Sections 420,46,7,468,471 and 120-B IPC and 7 & 12 of the PC Act, Sections 120-B, 420,467 and 471 of IPC and 7 & 12 of the PC Act which are the schedule offences included in para 1 & 8 of the schedule to PMLA 2002 as defined under Section 2(1)(y) of the Act. It is submitted that the present investigation is based on the new ECIR bearing No. ECIR/RPZO/04/2024 which is recorded on 11.04.20-24 on the basis of the FIR registered by the Chhattisgarh State Police at EOW/ACB, Raipur. It is submitted that the economic offences fall in the category of the offences which travel far ahead of personal or private wrongs having the potential to usher in economic crisis. In the matter of Alok Agrawal Vs. Directorate of Enforcement bearing M.Cr.C. No. 6533 of 2019, deci....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....Rohit (supra) gravity of offence and further considering the fact that the applicant is a Government Servant (Incharge Executive Engineer, Water Resources Department) and the manner in which the public money is alleged to have been laundered by the applicant, I am not inclined to release him on bail...." 65. Shri Pandey, learned counsel for the respondent submits that the applicant was arrested in the old ECIR/RPZO/11/2022 wherein prosecution complaint has already been quashed by the Supreme Court therefore that period cannot be counted as ED custody while deciding the instant bail application. The applicant was arrested in a separate case this time on 01.07.2024 in ECIR/RPZO/04/2024 which is based on different set of scheduled offence. 66. It is submitted that if the applicant is released on bail, he may tamper the evidence and influence the witnesses which many not only hamper the investigation but also result in further layering and concealment of proceeds of crime therefore the bail application filed by the applicant may be dismissed. It is submitted that the applicant had played a very crucial role in the liquor scam. He along with Vikas Agrawal had earned approximately ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....67. The economic offences constitute a class apart and need to be visited with different approach therefore in the mater of Y.S. Jagn Mohan Reddy Vs. CBI(2013) 7 SCC 439, the Apex Court has held as under: "34. Economic offences constitute a class apart and need to be visited with a different approach in the matter of bail. The economic offence having deep rooted conspiracies and involving huge loss of public funds needs to be viewed seriously and considered as grave offences affecting the economy of the country as a whole and thereby posing serious threat to the financial health of the country." 68. In yet another decision of the Apex Court ie. State of Gujarat Vs. Mohanlal Jitamalji Porwal & Others, (1987) 2 SCC 364, it has been specifically held that : "...5. The Community or the State is not a person-non-grata whose cause may be treated with disdain. The entire Community is aggrieved if the economic offenders who ruin the economy of the State are not brought to books. 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 regardle....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....n the present case, the arrest of the applicant is based on material in possession of the IO and not based on any extraneous grounds or mala fides. With regard to pick and choose contention of the applicant it is submitted that the investigation in liquor case is still going on and it is not correct to say that none of the district Excise Officers have been made accused. Regarding the previous excise police and old practice is being continued, to this, it is submitted that the period of enquiry in the case is from April 2019 to June 2022 prior to the formation of new government. 72. Next contention of the learned counsel for the applicant is that the applicant satisfied the triple test for grant of bail. To this, it has been stated by learned counsel for the respondent that vide prosecution complaint dated 30.08.2024, cognizance has been taken by the Special Court dated 5.10.2024 and had demonstrated the complete modus operandi adopted by the applicant for commission of the offence of money-laundering and investigation against the applicant is complete but the investigation with respect to the identification of remaining proceeds of crime and the persons involved therein is stil....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... background of the applicant was that of a low level employee with a salary of Rs. 30,000/- per month at the time of leaving the company in the year 2019-20 and after joining the syndicate, he earned commission of more than Rs. 20 crores. The ED has unearthed and attached 33 illegal properties worth Rs. 13,00,59,236/- in different entities registered in the name of his family members vide PAO dated 02.05.2024. Further it has been contended that M/s. ADIP Empire was having ledger account in the name of Deepak Duary (associated with Part-B collection) and funds have also been transacted with the present applicant and his family members ie. Amit Singh and Abhishek Singh. 75. Lastly, it has been contended that the applicant is actually involved in all the activities connected with the offence of money-laundering ie. use or acquisition possession, concealment and projecting or claiming as untainted property as defined under Section 3 of the PMLA, 2002 and therefore the applicant is guilty of the offence of money-laundering under Section 3 of the PMLA, 2002 and punishable under Section 4 of the PMLA. CONSIDERATION OF THE APPLICATION FOR BAIL 76. Heard learned counsel for the par....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....n-bailable.- (1) [Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), no person accused of an offence [under this Act] shall be released on bail or on his own bond unless-] (i) the Public Prosecutor has been given an opportunity to oppose the application for such release; and (ii) where the Public Prosecutor opposes the application, the court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail: Provided that a person, who, is under the age of sixteen years, or is a woman or is sick or infirm [or is accused either on his own or along with other co-accused of money-laundering a sum of less than one crore rupees], may be released on bail, if the Special Court so directs: Provided further that the Special Court shall not take cognizance of any offence punishable under Section 4 except upon a complaint in writing made by- (i) the Director; or (ii) any officer of the Central Government or a State Government authorised in writing in this behalf by the Central Government by a general or special....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....titioners are enlarged on bail, there is every likelihood that the petitioners may flee the jurisdiction of this Court to avoid the process of law. In these circumstances, we are not inclined to grant bail to the petitioners. In the result, the Criminal Original Petitions are dismissed. No costs" 81. Against the said judgment passed by Madras High Court, the applicant preferred SLP No. 620/2022 before the Apex Court, which has been dismissed on 25.02.2022 which reads as under: "We are not inclined to interfere in these Special Leave Petitions. The Special Leave Petitions are dismissed accordingly. However, we direct the prosecution/Investigating Agency to ensure that the trial is concluded with utmost expedition. Pending applications, if any, stand disposed of." 82. The Apex Court in the matter of Directorate of Enforcement Vs. Aditya Tripathi (Criminal Appeal No. 1401/2023) decided on 12.05.2023 has held as under:- 6. At the outset, it is required to be noted that respective respondent No. 1 - accused are facing the investigation by the Enforcement Directorate for the scheduled offences and for the offences of money-laundering under Section 3 of th....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....e High Court has not considered the rigour of Section 45 of the PML Act, 2002he Supreme Court on July 12 held that the power to arrest under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act (PMLA) cannot be exercised on the "whims and fancies" of Directorate of Enforcement (ED) officers. 6.1 Even otherwise, the High Court has not at all considered the nature of allegations and seriousness of the offences alleged of money-laundering and the offences under the PML Act, 2002. Looking to the nature of allegations, it can be said that the same can be said to be very serious allegations of money-laundering which are required to be investigated thoroughly. 6.2 Now so far as the submissions on behalf of the respective respondent No. 1 that respective respondent No. 1 were not named in the FIR with respect to the scheduled offence(s) and/or that all the other accused are discharged/acquitted in so far as the predicated offences are concerned, merely because other accused are acquitted/discharged, it cannot be a ground not to continue the investigation in respect of respective respondent No. 1. An enquiry/investigation is going on against respective respondent No. 1 with respect to t....