TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2023 (10) TMI 1569
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....ar, Adv. For the ED : Mr. Dhiraj Trivedi, Ld. DSGI, Mr. Billwadal Bhattacharyya, Ld. DSGI, Mr. Samrat Goswami, Adv. ORDER 1. The Court :- Both the appeals and the applications are taken up together and disposed of by this common order. 2. The order passed by the learned Single Judge on 25th September, 2023 and 29th September, 2023 respectively are subject matter of challenge in this appeal. 3. The applicant is not a party in the writ petition. The applicant has filed an application for leave to prefer an appeal against both the orders on the ground that the learned Single Judge has assumed the role of a court of enquiry and/or a fact finding commission for the purpose of providing and/or returning recommendation on alleged incident and/or offence which is clearly violation of the basic tenets of a court monitored investigation. 4. The grievance appears to be certain observations made in the order in relation to sensitive matters and confidential information which otherwise is not available in public domain until prosecution complaint is filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. It has assumed the character of media trial by reason of live streaming....
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....ed with the court supervised investigation as held in Manohar Lal Sharma v. Principal Secretary and Ors., reported in 2014(2) SCC 538. 8. Mr. Dutta in reference to the said judgment has placed the observation made by the Hon'ble Supreme Court that: "Once the court supervise an investigation there is hardly anything left to the trial............. Trial becomes a farce ". 9. Mr. Dutta has also referred to the decision in P. Chidambaram v. Director of Investigation reported in 2019(9) SCC 24 paragraphs 64 to 67 in aid of the aforesaid submission. 10. Mr. Dutta referred to the transcripted version of the proceedings of the court on 25th September, 2023 to show that remarks and observations have been made by the learned Single Judge in reference to the report filed by the ED in relation to the investigation made which involved confidential materials. The proceeding was live streamed. The information supposed to be confidential are now made public which is detrimental to the interest of the appellant. 11. Mr. Dutta has referred to the decision of the Directors Central Bureau of Investigation & Ors. v. Niyamavedi represented by its members K. Nandini, Advocate and others, repo....
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.... such humungous magnitude does not ipso facto imply that coercive step will be taken against him; neither does it suggest that he is an accused or a suspected accused. It is only when there is sufficient evidence of involvement of the said 18 person in the crime, that steps will be taken in accordance with law. But there is absolutely no requirement to hear a person prior to issuance of notice for appearing and deposing before the investigating officer. There is no application of the principle of natural justice requiring prior opportunity of hearing to be given to a person who may be required for investigating a crime. There are enough safeguards in the Act itself where steps may be taken against the erring officers for vexatious searches. The offences under the PMLA are cognizable and non-bailable, subject to the conditions laid down. The Act has overriding effects and investigation under the Act is under exclusive jurisdiction and domain of ED. It is for the person who is charged with the offence of money laundering to disprove that he or she is not involved in the offence. Unless contrary is proved, presumption is that the accused is involved in money laundering. Presu....
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.... on 3rd October, 2023 the applicant was supposed to attend a program at New Delhi to the knowledge of the ED and in order to scuttle it the Enforcement Directorate issued a notice on 27th September, 2023 requiring the appellant to be present on 3rd October, 2023. It appears from the first impugned order that the learned Single Judge was completely exasperated with the tardy progress and manner of investigation. When the court appointed an agency to investigate it has the power to monitor the said investigation and to ensure that the investigating agency conduct the investigation in a free, fair, impartial and time bound manner without any external interference (See Manoharlal Sharma (supra) paragraph 39). 18. The investigation was necessary in view enormity of questionable cash transactions in education recruitment scam. The magnitude of the scam is unfathomable. A fair investigation can only restore trust and faith in the system and it should be the endeavor of all to ensure that the culprits are brought to book and corrupts are punished. The entire gamut of investigation has two parts. CBI is already involved and ED is subsequently involved to find out the trail of money and t....
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....d to the transcriptions to show that the court proceeded as a prosecutor and few questions put to the officer of the ED can create a genuine apprehension in the mind of the petitioners that the purpose of investigation is to implicate him. We only say that some of the questions appearing in the transcript version were avoidable. However, we do not find any reflection of such questions in the impugned orders. The learned Single Judge perhaps was exasperated due to incomplete report and tardy progress of investigation. 20. Mr. Dhiraj Tribedi the learned DSGI has submitted that the ED is untiringly and diligently pursuing the investigation for the last nineteen months and have recovered Rs. 126 crores and large number of immovable properties have been attached and several persons have been arrested. We appreciate the anxiety expressed by Mr. Tribedi with regard to the comments made by the learned Single Judge about progress of investigation. Mr. Tribedi has submitted that one of the reasons for the delay is non disclosure of documents and information by the petitioner/appellant. The non disclosure of essential information has resulted in issuance of the summons. 21. The informat....
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....e expect the applicant to appear as and when his presence is required by E.D. 25. Before we conclude, we like to observe that the learned Single Judge in proceeding with the matter shall keep in mind that in monitoring the investigation, no adverse remark shall be made against any of the persons against whom the investigation is pending as it is likely to prejudice his rights in the event any proceeding is ultimately initiated upon conclusion of the investigation. The endeavour of the Court shall be to ensure a fair, speedy, impartial and time-bound investigation. It is to be remembered that any adverse observation against any of the persons summoned could be prejudicial to the interest of the said person and is likely to influence the investigation and the trial. The endeavour would be to ensure that the investigating agency gather and collate all required and relevant information and file its final report following the procedure prescribed in law with regard to the outcome of the investigation. In the instant case the learned Single Judge has not transgressed the jurisdiction. The directions with regard to disclosure of information and documents in the impugned orders has to b....