TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (9) TMI 742
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....her illegal activities generating illegal proceeds of crime. Present ECIR flows from two FIRs - (I) Dum Dum 449/22 dated 18.06.2022 under Sections 14 and 14A Foreigners Act and (II) Hanskhali PS 837/2024 dated 16.12.2024 under Sections 14A and 14C Foreigners Act. Petitioner neither named in either of the FIRs. The FIR Dum Dum 449/22 was charge-sheeted as mistake of fact on 15.02.2023 and Hanskhali PS 837/24 the petitioner was not chargesheeted and the person chargesheeted pleaded guilty. The petitioner was not named in either of the two FIRs. The petitioner was not named even in the 1st complaint by Enforcement Directorate and his name only appeared on 13.06.2025 in the 1st supplementary complaint on 13.06.2025. He was arrested on 13.10.2025. As on date, there is no schedule offence against the petitioner. The petitioner is a passport agent who referred clients to Dibyendu Roy, the cybercafé owner for passport applications. He allegedly facilitated the renewal of Azad Mallick's Indian passport facilitating the documents to Dibyendu Roy through email, took commission of Rs. 20,000/- for making passport and Rs. 50,000/- for full set of documents from Bangladeshi immigrants and....
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....ately linked to severe scheduled offences under Sections 14 and 14C of the Foreigners Act, 1946, which pose a direct threat to the national and economic security of the country. The petitioner operated as a passport agent near the Anandapur Passport Seva Kendra, actively facilitating the illegal procurement of Indian identity documents for foreign nationals. Investigation has revealed that Ajad Mallik @ Ahammed Hossain Azad @ Azad Hussain, a Pakistani national illegally residing in India under forged Indian identity documents, was engaged in procuring fraudulent Indian passports and identity documents for illegal immigrants in lieu of monetary consideration. Investigation further establishes that the present petitioner was one of the principal agents operating the said racket and was instrumental in arraigning Indian passports and forged Indian identity documents on the basis of fabricated records and forged supporting documents. The actions of the petitioner go beyond mere forgery and reflect a deliberate attempt to exploit legal systems to destabilize the nation. The petitioner has been directly involved in the racket of fake passport scam, the scheduled offence being related to ....
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....erification or genuine residential addresses. Documentary and digital evidence further exposed the petitioner's systematic forgery operations - The statement of Dibyendu Roy recorded under Section 50 of the PMLA further establishes the petitioner's systematic involvement in the racket. Dibyendu Roy categorically stated that approximately 300 to 400 passport applications were referred to him by the petitioner and that payments for such applications were received either directly from the petitioner or through the petitioner's family members. It further emerged that forged Aadhaar Cards, fabricated birth certificates and suspicious income tax documents were supplied by the petitioner for processing such passport applications. Several of the applications processed through the petitioner's network had adverse Police Verification Reports. The magnitude of the operation itself demonstrates that the petitioner was engaged in organized criminal activity for illegal financial gain. Investigation further revealed that petitioner referred the vast majority of the fraudulent applications, including 61 out of 64 applications that received adverse Police Verification Reports (PVRs). It was found ....
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....hi immigrant whose passport the petitioner admittedly facilitated, and 33 calls with passport agent Shyamal Kumar Jana. That despite repeated summons issued under Section 50 of PMLA, the petitioner deliberately avoided appearance and instead sought anticipatory bail before the Learned Special Court as well as before his Court, which have been rejected vide order dated 19.05.2025 in ML No. 04 of 2025 and 04.09.2025 in CRM (A) 1856 of 2025. Such conduct clearly reflects lack of cooperation and demonstrates that if enlarges on bail, the petitioner is likely to obstruct investigation, influence witnesses and tamper with evidence. The twin conditions stipulated under Section 45 of the PMLA are clearly not satisfied in the present case. The materials collected during investigation unmistakably establish the petitioner's active role in facilitating procurement of forged Indian identity documents and passports for illegal foreign nationals in lieu of monetary consideration. The petitioner was a direct beneficiary of proceeds of crime and actively assisted in generation and laundering of such proceeds. Therefore, it is most humbly submitted that this Court cannot arrive at a satisfaction th....
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.... iii) Third, the person concerned is, directly or indirectly, involved in any process or activity connected with the said property being proceeds of crime. In Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy v. CBI (2013) 7 SCC 439, the Hon'ble Supreme Court held that economic offences constitute a class apart and need to be dealt with seriously in matters of bail. Further, in P. Chidambaram v. Directorate of Enforcement (2019) 9 SCC 24 the Hon'ble Supreme Court observed that money laundering poses a serious threat to the financial system and integrity of the nation. Further in Directorate of Enforcement v. M. Gopal Reddy, 2022 SCC Online SC 1862, decided on 24.02.2023 at para 32, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has categorically stated that "......As per the catena of decision of this Court, more particularly, observed in the case of P. Chidambaram (supra) in case of economic offences, which are having an impact on the society, the Court must be very slow in exercising the discretion under Section 438 of Cr.P.C." The present case involves illegal foreign nationals, forged Indian identity documents, passport fraud, cross-border ramifications and possible national security implications and t....
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.... trail and phone call records, among other things. The prosecution's further contention is that the investigations in the predicate offences cases were either inept or compromised one. Therefore, the present petitioner was not even named as an accused in the FIRs there. In fact, a report in final form was submitted by the investigating agency of the State in one such case. Now, a revision challenging filing of such final report has been allowed. 7. It is true that the materials made available by the investigating agency even as against the present petitioner are such that the restriction contained in Section 45 of the PML Act cannot be surmounted, on merits. However, the Hon'ble Apex Court has, in a catena of decisions, held that prolonged incarceration of an accused in custody can outweigh the rigors of Section 45 of the PML Act in appropriate cases. A reference may be made to the decisions in Senthil Balaji, 2024 SCC Online 2626 and Manish Sisodia, (2024) 12 SCC 660. 8. Although, the prosecution may contend that the investigations by the State were tainted, it is a fact that at present, a report in final form was filed in one such case. However, now the ED's challenge to it....