TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (10) TMI 70
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....transit challans and causing revenue loss to the government. It was alleged in the ECIR that the suspects in pursuance of criminal conspiracy hatched and indulged in the activity related with the offence of money laundering as defined under Section 3 and punishable under Section 4 of the PMLA Act, where it is suspected that petitioner along with other co-accused persons generated and acquired proceeds of crime by commission of scheduled offences punishable under Sections 411, 420 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code, 1960. It is alleged that investigation in ECIR was initiated against six accused persons namely, Broadson, Mithilesh Kumar Singh, Baban Singh, Surender Kumar Jindal, Radha Charan Sah and Kanhaiya Prasad. 5. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner submitted that petitioner is an innocent person and has been falsely implicated with the present case merely because he was one of the previous Director of M/s. Broadson Commodities Pvt. Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Broadson"), in whose favour settlement of sand ghats for district Bhojpur, Patna and Saran were issued initially for the period of 2015-19 and which was further extended time to time from 01.01.2....
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....ions by the Mines Department officers in a single day at several sites is physically impossible and violates Rule 59 of the Bihar Minerals (Concession, Prevention of Illegal Mining, Transportation C Storage) Rules, 2019. Therefore, the alleged loss of Rs 77.63 crore reflected in FIRs No. 1 to 19 is based solely on assumptions without legally admissible evidence and cannot be considered as proceeds of crime within the meaning of Section 2(1)(u) of the PMLA Act. 9. It is further submitted that Broadson is facing multiple disputes with the Department of Mines and invoked the arbitration clause under the agreement and the New Sand Policy 2013. It requested by Collectors of Patna, Bhojpur and Saran to nominate an arbitrator to resolve the disputes. Meanwhile, two writ petitions (CWJC No. 13483/2021 and CWJC No. 15402/2021) were heard in early February 2022. It is stated that Broadson had already initiated arbitration proceedings, both writs were dismissed with liberty to pursue the alternate remedy of arbitration. When the Collectors failed to appoint an arbitrator, Broadson approached the Patna High Court via Request Cases No. 33/2022, 39/2022, and 38/2022 for Patna, Bhojpur, and Sa....
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....dian Evidence Act, making any investigation or charge-sheet legally unsustainable. The prosecution's claim regarding sand sale from February 2020 to August 2020, as derived from the loose sheets, does not match the GST deposit made by M/s BSCPL during the same period. This indicates that the data is not only irrelevant but also unreliable. 13. It is submitted that the offence of money laundering can only proceed if a predicate offence exists. If, based on objective assessment, the alleged predicate offence prima-facie appears weak or non-existent. In support of his submission learned counsel relied upon the legal report of Delhi High Court as available through Sanjay Pandey Vs. Directorate of Enforcement, 2022 SCC OnLine Del 325 : Chitra Ramkrishna Vs. Directorate of Enforcement Bail App-2919 of 2022 and Sanjay Jain Vs. Directorate of Enforcement, 2024 DHC 1900. 14. It is further submitted that the ECIRs in question are based on several FIRs, of which, only two FIR i.e. FIR No. 109/17 dated 05.04.2017 and FIR No. 523/17 dated 31.07.2017, predate the construction of the petitioner's properties. Significantly, no chargesheet has been filed even in these two FIRs despite lap....
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....d 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 this 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." 17. Besides above, learned counsel has also placed reliance on V. Senthil Balaji v. DoE, reported in 2024 SCC OnLine 2626. 18. Arguing further, learned counsel of petitioner submitted that as far as the statement of the petitioner recorded during custody is concerned, such statements cannot be used against the petitioner and as far as the statement of co-accused against the petitioner is concerned, they do not bear/hold substantive evidence against the petitioner and may not be considered while considering the bail application of the petitioner. In this regard, reliance can be placed on paragraph ....
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....n broad probabilities. It is also stated that the trial of the scheduled offence is at its initial stage and would directly affect the outcome of the money laundering case, continued custody serves no useful purpose, especially when conclusion of trial not appears in the near future. Despite these facts, the petitioner's bail application was rejected by the Learned Sessions Judge, without due consideration of these circumstances. 23. It is submitted by learned counsel for petitioner that in the facts and circumstances of the present case, the petitioner is entitled to be released on regular bail, as no prima facie offence is made out against him and the twin conditions under Section 45 of the PMLA stands fully satisfied. The investigation qua petitioner is complete; the prosecution complaint has already been filed, and other co-accused have been granted bail. However, charges are yet to be framed. With respect to the predicate FIRs, the trial has not even commenced. The prosecution has cited as many as 149 witnesses and relied upon voluminous records exceeding 13,283 pages, making the conclusion of trial in the near future impossible. The petitioner has already undergone nearly ....
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....y that a person against whom the offence under Section 3 of the PMLA is alleged must have been shown as the accused in the scheduled offence. What is held in paragraph 270 of the decision of this Court in the case of Vijay Madanlal Choudhary supports the above conclusion. The conditions precedent for attracting the offence under Section 3 of the PMLA are that there must be a scheduled offence and that there must be proceeds of crime in relation to the scheduled offence as defined in clause (u) of subsection (1) of Section 3 of the PMLA." 26. In this regard, Mr. Shankar further submitted that the independent nature of the offence of money laundering and its connection to scheduled offences was explained by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Vijay Madanlal Choudhary & Ors. v Union of India reported in 2022 SCC OnLine SC 929, wherein paragraph 42 reads thus: "42. From the bare language of Section 3 of the 2002 Act, it is amply clear that the offence of money-laundering is an independent offence regarding the process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime which had been derived or obtained as a result of criminal activity relating to or in relation to a ....
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....ther directors and close associates, confirming his active role in managing operations, inspecting sand ghats, and taking policy decisions. Consequently, Punj Kumar Singh (petitioner) was arrested on 19.09.2024 under the PMLA Act, 2002. 29. Learned counsel for the E.D. has relied upon a judgment of Hon'ble Supreme Court as available through Gautam Kundu v. Directorate of Enforcement (Prevention of Money Laundering Act), in which, Hon'ble Supreme Court has held that the conditions specified under Section 45 of PMLA are mandatory and need to be complied with while hearing an application for bail under Section 439 Cr.P.C. In this context, learned counsel also relied upon a decision of Supreme Court in the case of Tarun Kumar v. Enforcement Directorate, reported in 2023 SCC OnLine SC 1486. 30. Lastly, it is submitted that case of the petitioner cannot be equated with the case of other accused persons, who have already been enlarged on bail, on the ground that the petitioner was instrumental in actively facilitating the process of money laundering by utilizing the bank channels and other financial institutions to conceal the proceeds of crime. 31. From the aforesaid legal discu....