AI Drafter 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (12) TMI 105
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....nment of India (Respondent), under Section 482 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short, the BNSS). 2. The applicant is alleged to have committed the offence punishable under Section 3 read with Section 4 of the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 (for short, the PMLA). 3. The applicant is a cashew dealer. Admittedly, four crimes were registered by the Kottarakkara Police Station, Kollam and one crime was registered by Kollam East Police Station against the applicant and others, for the offences punishable under Sections 120B, 406, 408, 409, 420, 465, 468 and 471 read with Section 34 of the IPC, of which Sections 120 (B), 420 and 471 are scheduled offences under the PMLA. 4. The allegations in the three crimes (C....
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....nt applied for pre-arrest bail before the Additional Sessions Court VII, Ernakulam, in Crl. M.C. No. 3115/2025 which was dismissed as per Annexure A9 order. It was thereafter that the applicant approached this Court by filing the above application for pre-arrest bail. 7. I have heard Sri. Liju V. Stephen, the learned counsel for the applicant and Sri. A.R.L Sundhareshan, the learned Additional Solicitor General of India (ASGI), assisted by Sri. Jaishankar V. Nair, the learned Standing Counsel for the Enforcement Directorate. 8. The learned counsel for the applicant submitted that the applicant is absolutely innocent of the offences alleged against him and he has been falsely implicated in the case as a counterblast to a crime register....
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....ed is not guilty of an offence under the Act and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail. The Supreme Court in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary and Others v. Union of India and Others [(2023) 12 SCC 1] and in Directorate of Enforcement v. M. Gopal Reddy and Another [2022 SCC OnLine SC 1862] has made it clear that the twin conditions under Section 45 of PMLA apply to an application for pre-arrest bail under Section 438 of Cr. P.C.(Section 482 of BNSS) as well. 10. The conditions specified under Section 45 of the PMLA are mandatory and need to be complied with, which is further strengthened by the provisions of Sections 65 and 71 of the PMLA. Section 65 of PMLA requires that the provisions of the Cr.P.C shall apply, insofar as th....
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....gainst the applicant, and money-laundering involved in the above crime is the surface or the larger offence. The allegations in the five predicated crimes against the applicant, in short, are that he, along with the remaining accused, cheated multiple people in the guise of supplying cashews as well as by offering job opportunities and received a total sum of Rs. 25,52,79,015/-. The definite case of the prosecution herein is that these funds identified as proceeds of crime were utilised by the applicant and other accused for money-laundering. This is the surface offence allegedly committed by them under Section 3 of PMLA. 12. Chapter II of PMLA contains provisions relating to the offence of money-laundering. The definition of the term "m....
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....ed or obtained as a result of that crime. As stated already, the sum and substance of the prosecution case in the five predicated crimes is that the applicant, along with the remaining accused, cheated the de facto complainants under the guise of supplying cheap cashews and by offering job opportunities and received a total sum of Rs. 25,52,79,015/-. A major portion of this amount has been transacted through bank transfer. As the predicate offences involve scheduled offences under PMLA, the above-mentioned amount obtained by the applicant and the other accused falls within the definition of "proceeds of crime". Mere possession of the proceeds of crime would attract the offence under Section 3 of the PMLA. It is revealed from the investigati....