TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (7) TMI 1549
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....he applicants, they are innocent persons and have falsely been implicated, in the present case. 3. Both the applicants are permanent residents of 9/8, Sadarpura, Gali No. 1, Udaipur, Rajasthan. According to the applicants, both of them belong to respectable family and having deep roots in the society. 4. As per the applicants, three criminal cases, vide FIRs No. 22 of 2020, 26 of 2020 and 27 of 2020, have been registered with Police Station Dharampur, District Solan, H.P., regarding fake degree scam of Manav Bharti University. On the basis of those FIRs, the present ECIR has been registered. Both the applicants have been named as accused, in the above ECIR, and, as such, they are apprehending their arrest, in the said case. 5. According to them, they have no role in the admission of students of Manav Bharti University, as, the process of admission and other related affairs of the University are managed by the Vice Chancellor, who further delegates the same to the Registrar, Deputy Registrar, etc. 6. As per the further case of the applicants, the Manav Bharti University has been regularly making written complaints to the concerned officials at Police Station, Dharampur, ....
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....ounsel appearing for the applicants, has prayed that the bail applications may kindly be allowed and directions, under Section 482 of the BNSS, may be issued to the respondent-ED, to release the applicants, on bail, in the even of their arrest. 16. When put to notice, the prayer made in the bail applications has been opposed by the respondent-ED, by filing the replies, taking preliminary objections that the present applications, under Section 482 of the BNSS, are not maintainable, as, the offences, in which, the applicants have been named as accused persons, are grave in nature and pertain to large scale issuance of fake degrees by Manav Bharti University and laundering of the illegal proceeds generated therefrom. The applicants are stated to be the key conspirators in the alleged crime. 16.1. Apart from this, another preliminary objection has been taken by the ED that the economic offences constitute a class apart, as such, the relief, as sought, in the bail applications, cannot be granted to the applicants. 16.2. It is the further case of the ED that the rigors of Section 45 of the PMLA are applicable, to the present case and before granting the relief to the applicants,....
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....plications, at the first instance, before the learned trial Court. 16.9. It is the further case of the ED that the applicants have deliberately evaded the process of law, as such, they cannot be permitted to play with the process of the Court. 16.10. On merits, the bail applications have been contested, by the ED, by pleading that the Director General of Police, vide DO letter, dated 11th September, 2020, informed that three criminal cases, i.e., FIRs No. 22/20, 26/20 and 27/20, under Sections 420, 467, 468 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code (hereinafter referred to as 'IPC') have been registered with Police Station Dharampur, District Solan, in fake degree scam of Manav Bharti University. 16.11. During the course of investigation, made by the Special Investigation Team of Himachal Pradesh Police, a large number of fake degrees have been found to have been issued by the Manav Bharti University to the candidates in lieu of money. It has also been informed that besides laundering money, huge movable and immovable properties had been acquired by accused-Raj Kumar Rana, Chairman of Manav Bharti Charitable Trust in Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and other places with funds generate....
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....arti University, Solan. 16.16. Thereafter, accused-Raj Kumar Rana started his business of issuance of fake degrees in the name of Manav Bharti University, Solan, in the year 2009. Subsequently, one more University, namely Madhav University, Pindwara, Abu Road, Sirohi, Rajasthan, was established by accused-Raj Kumar Rana, under the aegis of Manav Bharti Charitable Trust in the year 2013, issued fake degrees in the name of Madhav University, also. 16.17. Accused-Raj Kumar Rana is stated to have submitted fraudulent documents to the University Grants Commission at the time of registration and had shown one Sarika and Krishan Kumar Singh as Trustees. 16.18. It has been mentioned in the reply that when, the searches were conducted by Himachal Pradesh Police at Admin Block of Manav Bharti University, Solan, on 6th March, 2020, 305 signed and unsigned Detail Marks Cards, for the period 2009-2015, were recovered and seized. 16.19. According to the ED, accused-Raj Kumar Rana had been running institute in Karnal and had issued fake degrees from there, as well. Prior to establishment of Manav Bharti University, Solan, accused-Raj Kumar Rana was running an institute in the name of ....
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....payment of Rs. 93,00,000/-, for purchasing other property from Bank account of Jagmal Singh. From this fact, it has been pleaded that the payments had only been arranged by accused Raj Kumar Rana from the proceeds of crime earned from the criminal activity of sale of fake degrees. Applicant-Mandeep Rana has knowingly assisted his father Raj Kumar Rana in the concealment of proceeds of crime and he is actually involved in the use of projection of proceeds of crime derived from the criminal activities i.e. sale of fake degrees, as such, he has committed the offence punishable under Section 3 and 4 of the PMLA. 16.23. On merits, the stand, as taken by the applicant, qua the fact that the ECIR is solely based upon FIR No. 27/2020, has also been denied and according to the ED, the subsequent investigation, which had independently been conducted, revealed that the applicants are involved in money laundering. 16.24. It is the further case of the ED that the investigation, in the present case, is going on and custodial interrogation of the applicants is essential. Highlighting the justification for custodial interrogation, according to the ED, the same is required to unearth the full....
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....12th September, 2025, as one time measure, to enable them to return to India, but, they failed to do so. Thereafter, they have been declared Fugitive Economic Offenders, on 3rd January, 2026. According to the ED, the recourse to bring the applicants back to India, can be undertaken only upon availability of a verified and confirmed foreign address of the person and the same cannot be invoked as a roving or exploratory exercise. In the additional affidavit, a plea has also been taken by the ED that proceeds of crime have been quantified as Rs.387 crores, as pleaded in the prosecution complaint. Out of the said amount, ED has attached a property of worth Rs. 200/- crores and further investigation for tracing the remaining proceeds of crime is stated to be going on. 17.2. The additional affidavit has been filed to counter the arguments made by the learned counsel appearing for the applicants, qua the fact, that despite knowing the address and knowing the fact that the applicants are residing in Australia, no efforts have been made by the ED to serve the notices upon them, by taking the recourse of the instructions issued in this regard. 17.3. In the additional affidavit, the arg....
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....ge (PMLA), by virtue of which, learned Special Judge (PMLA), on the basis of concession given by the ED, has ordered to keep the lookout circular notices, as well as, non-bailable warrants in abeyance, whereas, ED has placed on record the copy of order dated 4th May, 2024, passed by the Court of learned Special Judge, Shimla, by virtue of which, the proceedings, under Section 82 of the CrPC, were ordered to be initiated against the applicants, copy of summons, copy of notice, under Section 50 of the PMLA, copy of the registered letter, by virtue of which, the summons were issued to the applicant, copy of summons, copy of order dated 31st October, 2023, passed by the learned Special Judge, Shimla, by virtue of which, open dated non-bailable warrants were issued against the applicants, copy of order dated 4th May, 2024, by virtue of which, steps have been taken to declare the applicants as proclaimed offenders, copy of order dated 3rd January, 2026, passed by the learned Special Judge (PMLA), by virtue of which, the applicants were declared as Fugitive Economic Offenders, copy of the notice under Section 10 of the FEO Act, issued against the applicants. 21. In this case, the praye....
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.... investigation we fail to appreciate why there should be a compulsion on the officer to arrest the accused. 11. We are, in fact, faced with a situation where contrary to the observations in Joginder Kumar versus State of U.P., (1994) 4 SCC 260, how a police officer has to deal with a scenario of arrest, the trial courts are stated to be insisting on the arrest of an accused as a prerequisite formality to take the charge-sheet on record in view of the provisions of Section 170 CrPC. We consider such a course misplaced and contrary to the very intent of Section 170 CrPC. 12. In the present case when the appellant has joined the investigation, investigation has completed and he has been roped in after seven years of registration of the FIR we can think of no reason why at this stage he must be arrested before the charge-sheet is taken on record. We may note that the learned counsel for the appellant has already stated before us that on summons being issued the appellant will put the appearance before the trial Court." 24. The High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, in Suresh Babu versus State of U.P. and another, reported in 2022 Supreme (All) 653, has also taken t....
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....this section shall not be applicable.- (a) to the offences arising out of .- (i) the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,1967; (ii) the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985; (iii) the Official Secret Act, 1923; (iv) the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986. (b) in the offences, in which death sentence can be awarded. Besides, section 82 Cr.P.C. neither creates any rider nor imposes any restrictions in filing anticipatory bail application by the proclaimed offender inasmuch as the Hon'ble Apex Court has used the word 'Normally' in re: Lavesh (supra), meaning thereby normally the anticipatory bail application of the proclaimed offender should not be entertained. Therefore, only in the aforesaid case/cases the provisions of anticipatory bail application would not be applicable. It has nowhere been indicated u/s 438 Cr.P.C. that the proclaimed offender would be barred to file such application. As to whether such proclaimed offender would be granted anticipatory bail or not would depend upon the facts and circumstances of the particular issue and also on the b....
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....er Section 70 of the CrPC, it is the case of the ED that accused-Raj Kumar Rana, father of applicant-Mandeep Rana, and husband of applicant-Ashoni Kanwar, has disclosed the fact that they are in Australia. This statement, according to the ED, was recorded on 18th February, 2021. Meaning thereby, on 18th February, 2021, the Investigating Agency was aware about the fact that the applicants are not in India and despite this fact, instead of taking the steps to get them deported from Australia, the Investigating Agency had obtained the open ended non-bailable warrants against the applicants, by mentioning their address of India. 29. It has rightly been argued by the learned senior counsel for the applicants that the Investigating Agency is not interested to bring the applicants back to India, but, is interested to get them declared proclaimed offenders and thereafter, to take steps under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act. 30. Even, after coming to know about the address of the applicants, no notice, under Section 50 of the PMLA were served upon the applicants. 31. Alongwith the additional affidavit, the ED has annexed the true copies of the summons issued against the accused....
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....being residing in Australia. 37. In the complaint, filed by the ED, the applicants have been impleaded as accused Nos. 13 and 14. In the said complaint, the role of applicant-Mandeep Rana and applicant-Ashoni Kanwar has been mentioned in paras 12.13 and 12.14, which are reproduced, as under: "12.13. Role of Mandeep Rana S/o Sh. Raj Kumar rana (Accused No. 13) 12.13.1. that bank accounts were opened by Mandeep Rana with several banks: 12.13.2. that proceeds of crime generated from the criminal activity of sale of fake degree were deposited in the bank accounts of MBCT, MBU and Madhav University by Raj Kumar Rana; 12.13.3. that the funds so introduced in the bank accounts were transferred by Raj Kumar Rana in the bank accounts of Mandeep Rana; 12.13.4. that Mandeep Rana projected these proceeds of crime received in his bank accounts as salary from MBCT in his Income Tax Returns filed before the Income Tax Authorities. However in reality he never worked in any University or MBCT; 12.13.5. that proceeds of crime received in his bank accounts were used by of acquisition of properties detailed in TABLE I; 12.13.6. that als....
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....nd projection of proceeds of crime derived from the criminal activity of sale of fake degree. Thereby committing the offence of money laundering as defined u/s 3 and punishable u/s 4 of PMLA. 2002." 38. Although, in para 15 of the complaint, it has been pleaded that the investigation is still going on, but, mere mention of this fact is too short to decline the relief to the applicants. 39. Even, considering the vague averments, as made in the complaint, in para 15 thereof, the learned counsel for the ED could not satisfy the judicial conscience of this Court as to how the directions issued by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Tarsem Lal versus Directorate of Enforcement Jalandhar Zonal Office, reported in (2024) 7 Supreme Court Cases 61, are not applicable, in the present case. Relevant para-33, of the said judgment, is reproduced, as under: "23. Now, we summarise our conclusions as under: 33.1. Once a complaint under Section 44 (1)(b) of the PMLA is filed, it will be governed by Sections 200 to 205 of the CrPC as none of the said provisions are inconsistent with any of the provisions of the PMLA; 33.2. If the accused was not arrested by the ED till fili....
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....gation, usually, the Special Court will exercise the power of cancellation of the warrant without insisting on taking the accused in custody provided an undertaking is furnished by the accused to appear regularly before the Court. When the Special Court deals with an application for cancellation of a warrant, the Special Court is not dealing with an application for bail. Hence, Section 45(1) will have no application to such an application; 33.8. When an accused appears pursuant to a summons, the Special Court is empowered to take bonds under Section 88 of the CrPC in a given case. However, it is not mandatory in every case to direct furnishing of bonds. However, if a warrant of arrest has been issued on account of non-appearance or proceedings under Section 82 and/or Section 83 of the CrPC have been issued against an accused, he cannot be let off by taking a bond under Section 88 of the CrPC, and the accused will have to apply for cancellation of the warrant; 33.9. After cognizance is taken of the offence punishable under Section 4 of the PMLA based on a complaint under Section 44 (1)(b), the ED and its officers are powerless to exercise power under Section 19 to ....
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....such requests, examines and takes appropriate action. 5. The Central Authorities in Canada are charging a cost of Rs. $50.00 Canadian for the process of service under the Hague convention of Service Abroad of Judicial and Extra-Judicial Matters, 1965. The payment accompanying the documents to be served must be in the form of a traveller's cheque or a cheque, in the amount of Can $50 per request. The travellers cheque or cheque must be drawn on a Canadian Bank. The details are available at www.hcch.net 6. Consulate General of India in Sydney has informed that the Sheriff's Office of NSW levies a fee of AUD 54 for serving summons through their office. The fee could be remitted in favour of the Consulate General of India, Sydney and the details of the Head of Account' under which such payment has to be debited be provided for making a necessary action." 41. So far as the legal proposition, qua the fact that before granting the relief, as sought in the applications, it is incumbent upon the Court to record the findings, under Section 45 of the PMLA, is concerned, if the facts and circumstance of the present case, as discussed above, are seen in the ligh....
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.... in serious cases as to why the applicant has been granted or denied the privilege of bail. 46. The duty of the court at this stage is not to weigh the evidence meticulously but to arrive at a finding on the basis of broad probabilities. However, while dealing with a special statute like MCOCA having regard to the provisions contained in sub-section (4) of Section 21 of the Act, the court may have to probe into the matter deeper so as to enable it to arrive at a finding that the materials collected against the accused during the investigation may not justify a judgment of conviction. The findings recorded by the court while granting or refusing bail undoubtedly would be tentative in nature, which may not have any bearing on the merit of the case and the trial court would, thus, be free to decide the case on the basis of evidence adduced at the trial, without in any manner being prejudiced thereby" (emphasis supplied) 401. We are in agreement with the observation made by the Court in Ranjitsing Brahmajeetsing Sharma. The Court while dealing with the application for grant of bail need not delve deep into the merits of the case and only a view of the Court b....
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....r will not in any way effect the power of the ED to arrest the accused under Section 19 of the PMLA Act. This offer made by the ld defence counsel is acceptable to the ED and accordingly, the look out circular notices as well as NBWs issued against accused Ashoni Kanwar and Mandeep Rana are ordered to be kept in abeyance. This order is not passed on the merits of the application moved on behalf of the accused. The order of keeping the look out circular notices and NBWs issued against the accused Ashoni Kanwar and Mandeep Rana, in abeyance be conveyed to Bureau of immigration through the ld. Special counsel of ED. Put up for further order on 30.08.2025 as already fixed." 44. Admittedly, it is not the case of the ED that the said relaxation was given on some misrepresentation made by the applicants. It has rightly been pointed out by the learned senior counsel for the applicants that in view of the above submissions, which were made before the learned Special Judge, the alleged apprehension of the ED, that the applicants are evading the process of law, becomes unfounded. The learned counsel for the ED could not satisfy the judicial conscience of this Court as to what is the legal ....
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....nary circumstances. Apart from the question of prevention being the object of refusal of bail, one must not lose sight of the fact that any imprisonment before conviction has a substantial punitive content and it would be improper for any court to refuse bail as a mark of disapproval of former conduct whether the accused has been convicted for it or not or to refuse bail to an unconvicted person for the purpose of giving him a taste of imprisonment as a lesson." 47. So far as the further investigation of the case, as highlighted by the learned counsel appearing for the ED, is concerned, on this ground, the relief, for which the applicants are otherwise entitled to, cannot be denied to them, in view of the decision of the Constitution Bench of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Gurbaksh Singh Sibbia & Others versus State of Punjab, reported in (1980) 2 Supreme Court Cases 565, wherein, it has been held that a person, having the protection under Section 438 CrPC (482 of the BNSS) is deemed to have surrendered himself, if, a discovery is to be made; merely, the protection, not to take any coercive action, does not preclude the investigating agency to get the recovery effected from the ap....
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....y invoking the principle stated by this Court in State of H.P. v. Deoman Upadhyaya." 49. Even otherwise, the relaxation, which has been given to the applicants, vide order, dated 8th August, 2025, was given by the learned Special Judge (PMLA), on the basis of the concession given by the ED. In this background, the learned counsel appearing for the ED could not satisfy the judicial conscience of this Court as to how, the ED can now oppose the prayer, as made in the bail applications. 50. Moreover, the relief, as sought by the applicants, in the present case, should not be subject to the sweet will of the Investigating Agency, as, at one point of time, they have given concession to the applicants to come back and now, on the basis of the proceedings, which were initiated by them, during the pendency of the applications, i.e. getting them declared as Proclaimed Offenders, the ED is legally estopped from opposing such prayer, in the bail applications. 51. In such situation, it can be said that the applicants are not guilty of such offence and while on bail, they will not commit any offence. Even, for the second condition, i.e., they will not commit any offence, reasonable cond....