TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (4) TMI 1690
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.... of Assurance on Contractual basis and both had access to the original records and were involved in supplying blank pages and original volumes from the registrar of assurance Kolkata. Both co-accused were in direct contact with co- accused Irshad Akhtar and provided original registers/blank pages of original volumes for making fake deed. an amount of Rs. 21,43,000/- has been identified to be credited in bank account of Petitioner by way of bank Transfers or Cash Deposits in lieu of providing assistance to the accused persons of Syndicate. 4. Further proceeds of crime have also been identified in the bank account of Sanjeet Kumar. An amount of Rs. 80,000 has been identified in his bank account which have been deposited by the accused persons of the land grabbing syndicate. 5. In addition to the said cash deposits have also been identified in his bank account, the accused person Md. Irshad was involved in writing a separate fake deed no. 2376 of 1940 through his deceased associate Maqbool, which is part of the above stated 4.83 acres property and deed no. 3954 of 1974 (for above stated 4.83 acres property through his associate Allauddin, since deceased). 6. Md. Irshad made f....
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....erefore, the ground of parity has also been taken with respect to co-accused person, namely, Hemant Soren who was made accused in the original prosecution complaint, has already been granted bail by this Court vide order dated 28.06.2024 passed in B.A. No. 4892 of 2024. vi. The ground has also been taken that the prime allegation in the scheduled offence is with respect to forging of documents and there is no allegation against the petitioner that he has forged any document, hence, no offence under Sections 468 and 471 of IPC is made out against the petitioner. Moreso, it has nowhere been alleged that the petitioner had fraudulently induced any person to deliver any property so as to attract the offence of cheating against the petitioner. vii. The ground has also been taken that the involvement of the petitioner as per the prosecuting agency is primarily through the angle of conspiracy, though, Section 120-B of IPC is not incorporated in the predicate offence which led to institution of Sadar P.S. Case no. 272 of 2023. viii. It has been contended that the petitioner was remanded to judicial custody on 09.05.2024 and since then he is languishing in judicia....
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....orcement of Directorate, 2023 INSC 1006 has held that to apply parity, individual role of the accused must be seen and accused cannot seek bail merely because co-accused person has been granted bail. (v) The learned counsel contended that prayer for bail of the co-accused persons namely Sanjit Kumar @ Sanjeet Kumar and Md. Irshad, have already been rejected by this Court vide order dated 21.03.2025 passed in B.A. No. 7501 of 2024 and in B.A No. 7598 of 2024 respectively. 11. The ground has also been taken that in course of investigation, the statement of various persons was recorded which corroborates the role of the petitioner in providing assistance to the accused persons. 12. Learned counsel for the opposite party-ED, based upon the aforesaid grounds, has submitted that since the nature of allegation committed by the present petitioner is serious, as such, the instant bail application is fit to be rejected. Analysis 13. 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. 14. The Act was enacted to ....
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....al activity relating to a scheduled offence or the value of any such property or where such property is taken or held outside the country, then the property equivalent in value held within the country or abroad. 19. In the explanation it has been referred that for the removal of doubts, it is hereby clarified that "proceeds of crime" include 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. 20. 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 indir....
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.... 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.]" 25. It is evident from the aforesaid provision that "offence of money- laundering" means whosoever directly or indirectly attempts to indulge or knowingly assists or knowingly is a party or is actually involved in any process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime including its concealment, possession, acquisition or use and projecting or claiming it as untainted property shall be guilty of offence of money-laundering. 26. 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. 27. The punishment for money laundering has been provided under Section 4 of the Act, 2002. 28. Section 50 of the Act, 2002 confers power upon the authorities regarding summons....
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....ll mean and shall be deemed to have always meant that all offences under this Act shall be cognizable offences and non-bailable offences notwithstanding anything to the contrary 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. 33. 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-387 and 412. For ready reference, the said paragraphs are being referred as under: "387 The provision post the 2018 Amendment, is in the nature of no bail in relation to the offence of money laundering unless the twin conditions are fulfilled. The twin conditions are that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of offence of money laundering and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail. Considering the purposes and objects of the legislation in the form of the 2002 Act and the background in whic....
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.... to commit any offence while on bail. It has further been observed 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 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 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 Sec....
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....ectives of the 2002 Act, which is a special legislation providing for stringent regulatory measures for combating the menace of money-laundering. 38. The Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Gautam Kundu vs. Directorate of Enforcement (Prevention of Money-Laundering Act), Government 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. 39. 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. 40. Therefore, the conditions enumerated in Section 45 of PMLA will have to be complied with even in respect of an application for bail made....
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....h have resulted in the generation of proceeds of crime. 9.3 Bhanu Pratap Prasad being a government servant (Revenue Sub- Inspector, Baragain) was part of a syndicate that was habitually involved in illegal activities pertaining to forgeries and tampering with government records aimed at acquiring landed properties. As such, the information with respect to Bhanu Pratap Prasad and the documents seized from his possession was shared with the Chief Secretary, Govt. of Jharkhand under section 66(2) of the PMLA, 2002 On the basis of said information, the FIR was lodged by the Sadar PS. The information shared under section 66(2) of PMLA, 2002 is an integral part of the FIR 272/2023. On the basis of the FIR no: 272/2023 the ECIR:RNZO/25/2023 was recorded for further investigation under PMLA, 2002. Investigation under PMLA, 2002 in ECIR:RNZO/25/2023- 9.5 During investigation, the accused person Bhanu Pratap Prasad was taken into remand in ECIR RNZO/18/2022 and the seized documents and his digital devices were scrutinized. The scrutiny of the mobile phone of Bhanu Pratap Prasad further led to the identification of one 8.80 acres property situated at Shanti Nagar, B....
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..... Saddam Hussain in the said fake deed no. 3985 is corroborated from the seizure of the said deed 3985 of the year 1940 from his possession during searches conducted on 13.04.2023 by EC IR/RNZO/18/2022) 9.20 Subsequently, the said Afshar Ali was also taken into the custody of the Directorate of Enforcement on 16.104 2024. During his custody, he stated that deed no. 3985 of the year 1940, registered at the Registrar of Assurances Kolkata, related to property under Mauja Baragain at Thana no. 184, Ranchi, Khata no 234. Khewat no 10/11, totalling to 6.34 acres, was a fake deed. He further stated that two other fake deeds were written while making this fake deed 3985 of the year 1940. The pages from the original volumes of the Registrar of Assurances, Kolkata were provided by the Shekhar Prasad Mahto, Shekhar Kushwaha, Md. Saddam Husain then handed over these pages to the accused person namely Md Irshad, r/o Hazaribagh for writing the three deeds including deed No 3985/1940. He stated to have given Rs 60.000/ to Md Irshad for writing the deeds. The statement of Md. Irshad was recorded u/s 50 of P'MLA, 2002 on 24.04 2024 in which he admitted to have written the above stated....
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....hers in connivance with each other entered the property admeasuring 4.83 acres in the name of Samrendra Chandra Ghoshal in page no. 139 of register II. volume I. The accused persons namely Bipin Singh, Bhanu Pratap Prasad, Md. Irshad and others have admitted this fact during their statement. The accused person Md. Irshad did the entry in his own handwriting on page 139 of the register II. volume 1 The work of entering the name of Sammendra Chandra Ghoshal was done at the residence of the accused person. Md. Saddam Hussain and for this work. Re 5 lakhs was paid to Bhanu Pratap Prasad through the accused person Bipin Singh. In his statement dated 24.04 3024 recorded u/s 50 of PMLA, 2002, the accused person Md. Irshad admitted to have written a correction slip related to the property situated at Cheshire Home Road, Khata no 53, covering an area of 4.83 acres in the name of Samrendra Chandra Ghoshal in connivance with Saddam Hussain. The said correction slip was recovered from the residence of Mid Saddam Hussain during search dated 13.04.2023 in ECIR-RNZO/18/2022 which has been discussed above. The accused person Md. Irshad also acknowledged his handwriting on the said correction slip.....
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....x55 and 93xxxxxx35 belonging to Md. Saddam Hussain was obtained and scrutinised. The scrutiny of CDR of the said numbers reveals that on 13.05.2022 to 14.05.2022, Afshar Ali and Md. Saddam Hussain were in Kolkata. ------ At the said Hotel Peerless Inn, the original volume 169, (in which the fake deed no. 3954 of 1974 in the name of Samrendra Chandra Ghosal was earlier affixed) was brought for corrections by the accused person Irshad Akhtar The accused persons namely Md. Saddam Hussain and Afshar Ali were present inside the hotel room. On the said day, at Hotel Peerless Inn, the original volume was provided by the accused persons Tapas Ghosh and Sanjit Kumar to Irshad Akhtar who brought it to Hotel Peerless and the said correction was made. During correction, a photograph of Afshar Ali was captured by Md. Saddam Hussain which was recovered from his mobile phone. 9.47 Further, the scrutiny of the bank accounts bearing no. 400010110005147 and 879576110 in the name of Sanjeet Kumar maintained in Bank of India and Indian Bank reveal a cash deposit of Rs. 60000 in lieu of providing assistance to Tapas Ghosh, Irshad Akhtar and others. 9.48 The scrutiny of the Ax....
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....erties) and using and claiming as well as projecting the said fake deeds/instruments as untainted property. Thus, the said Tapash Ghosh has committed acts that constitute the offence of Money Laundering as defined under section 3 of PMLA, 2002. ------ -------- " 44. It is evident from the prosecution complaint that the instant case ECIR RNZO/25/2023 has been recorded on the basis of the FIR no 272/2023 lodged under sections 465/467/468/469/471/466/420/379/474 of IPC by Sadar PS, Ranchi on the complaint of Manoj Kumar, ex-Circle Officer, Baragain, Ranchi. The complaint of Manoj Kumar was the result of action taken on the information shared by the Directorate of Enforcement under section 66(2) of the PMLA, 2002 to the Chief Secretary, Govt. of Jharkhand against Bhanu Pratap Prasad and other persons of his syndicate. 45. It has come during investigation that the petitioner along with other accused persons was involved in preparation of fake deed as admitted by co-accused Afsar Ali mentioned at para 9.20 and 9.41 of the prosecution complaint. 46. It has revealed in the investigation that the accused person/present petitioner worked as a deed searcher at the R....
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....e named accused persons in preparation of fake deeds and instruments to acquire proceeds of crime (in form of landed properties) and using and claiming as well as projecting the said fake deeds/instruments as untainted property. 50. Further, the bank account scrutiny of the accused persons, namely, Sanjit Kumar, Tapas Ghosh, Md. Irshad, and Irshad Akhtar reveals interconnected transactions amongst the said persons. In addition to this frequent cash deposits made into their bank accounts during the period of commission of offence has also been identified. These cash deposits and bank account transactions corroborate the link between the accused persons and also establish the receipt of proceeds of crime in cash, out of which, some portion has been deposited by them in their bank accounts. 51. Thus, from aforesaid imputation and discussion prima-facie it appears that the involvement of present petitioner in alleged crime cannot be lightly brushed out. 52. Now coming to the contentions as raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner, wherein, he has taken the ground that the petitioner is not accused in the predicate offence, hence, cannot be made liable for money launder....
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....hority of the Authorised Officer under the Act to prosecute any person for the offence of money laundering gets triggered only if there exist proceeds of crime within the meaning of Section 2(1)(u) of the Act and further it is involved in any process or activity. 57. Not even in case of existence of undisclosed income and irrespective of its volume, the definition of "Proceeds of Crime" under Section 2(1)(u) will get attracted, unless the property has been derived or obtained as a result of criminal activity relating to a scheduled offence. The property must qualify the definition of "Proceeds of Crime" under Section 2(1)(u) of the Act. As observed, in all or whole of the crime property linked to scheduled offence need not be regarded as proceeds of crime, but all properties qualifying the definition of "Proceeds of Crime" under Section 2(1)(u) will necessarily be the crime properties. 58. 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....
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....activity relating to or in relation to a scheduled offence. The offence of money laundering is not dependent or linked to the date on which the scheduled offence or predicate offence has been committed. The relevant date is the date on which the person indulges in the process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime. Thus, the involvement of the person in any of the criminal activities like concealment, possession, acquisition, use of proceeds of crime as much as projecting it as untainted property or claiming it to be so, would constitute the offence of money laundering under Section 3 of the Act. 64. Thus, on the basis of the discussion made hereinabove, the contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner that even if the entire ECIR will be taken into consideration, no offence will be said to be committed so as to attract the ingredients of Sections 3 & 4 of the P.M.L. Act, 2002, is totally misplaced in the light of accusation as mentioned in prosecution complaint. 65. Further, the contention has been raised that a prosecution complaint against the petitioner has already been filed and, thus, investigation is complete and therefore, no purpose would be served ....
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....the twin conditions which have been provided under Section 45(1) of the Act, 2002. 73. The power of the Court to grant bail is further conditioned upon the satisfaction of the twin conditions prescribed under Section 45(1) (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....
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.... the punishment in the case of conviction and the nature of the materials relied upon by the prosecution; (ii) reasonable apprehension of tampering with the witnesses or apprehension of threat to the complainant or the witnesses; (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, based upon the imputation as has been discovered in course of investigation, is of the view that what has been argued on behalf of the petitioner that proceeds cannot be said to be proceeds of crime but as would appear from the preceding paragraphs, money has been transferred into the account of the present petitioner by the co-accused. 77. This Court, on the basis of aforesaid discussions, factual aspects 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 in managing the money said to be proceeds of crime. 78. This Court, while considering ....
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.... at hand, it is found that when a stand was taken that the second respondent was a history-sheeter, it was imperative on the part of the High Court to scrutinise every aspect and not capriciously record that the second respondent is entitled to be admitted to bail on the ground of parity. It can be stated with absolute certitude that it was not a case of parity and, therefore, the impugned order [Mitthan Yadav v. State of U.P., 2014 SCC OnLine All 16031] clearly exposes the non-application of mind. That apart, as a matter of fact it has been brought on record that the second respondent has been charge-sheeted in respect of number of other heinous offences. The High Court has failed to take note of the same. Therefore, the order has to pave the path of extinction, for its approval by this Court would tantamount to travesty of justice, and accordingly we set it aside. 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 ....
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....w enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution. However, if any illegality or irregularity has been committed in favour of any individual or a group of individuals, or a wrong order has been passed by a judicial forum, others cannot invoke the jurisdiction of the higher or superior court for repeating or multiplying the same irregularity or illegality or for passing similar wrong order. Article 14 is not meant to perpetuate the illegality or irregularity. If there has been a benefit or advantage conferred on one or a set of people by any authority or by the court, without legal basis or justification, other persons could not claim as a matter of right the benefit on the basis of such wrong decision." 84. Now, this court is adverting into facts of instant case to decide the issue of parity in the backdrop of aforesaid settled legal ratio and further taken into consideration the aforesaid settled position of law, thinks fit to refer herein distinguishable facts in the case of present petitioner to that of the case of co-accused and petitioner of B.A No.4892 of 2024. 85. This Court, in order to verify the application of principle of parity, has gone through the order passed in B.....
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....ney Laundering is an economic offence and economic offences comes under the grave offences, hence, needs to be visited with a different approach in the matter of bail, as has been held by the Hon'ble Apex court in the case of Y. S Jagan Mohan Reddy v/s C. B. I., reported in (2013) 7 SCC 439. For ready reference, the relevant paragraphs of the aforesaid judgments are being quoted 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 offences having deep-rooted conspiracies and involving huge loss of public funds need 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." 92. Similarly, the Hon'ble Apex Court in case of Nimgadda Prasad Vs. C.B.I., reported in (2013) 7 SCC 466 has reiterated the same view in paragraphs- 23 to 25 which reads as under: "23. Unfortunately, in the last few years, the country has been seeing an alarming rise in white-collar crimes, which has affected the fibre of the country's economic structure. Incontrovertibly, economic....