2019 (8) TMI 1808 - SCH - Money Laundering

Jurisdiction - power of Court to look into the documents whether or not the Petitioner has been confronted or not with the same - Whether the Court is to look into the documents, produced in a sealed cover by the Respondent-Directorate of Enforcement, when the Petitioner has not been confronted with the said documents during the interrogation on 19.12.2018, 07.01.2019, 21.01.2019 and also on the subsequent dates? - HELD THAT - Without prejudice to the contentions of both the parties, the Respondent-Directorate of Enforcement is directed to produce the documents in a sealed cover with the authenticated seal of the Directorate of Enforcement. List the matter on Thursday, the 05th September, 2019, For Orders .

Summary

Issues involved:
1. Whether the Court can look into documents produced in a sealed cover by the Respondent-Directorate of Enforcement when the Petitioner has not been confronted with them during interrogation.

Analysis:
The Supreme Court, comprising R. Banumathi and A.S. Bopanna, JJ., heard submissions from both parties. The main issue revolved around whether the Court should consider documents presented by the Directorate of Enforcement in a sealed cover, even if the Petitioner had not been shown these documents during previous interrogations. The Directorate of Enforcement argued that the Court has the authority to examine such documents regardless of whether the Petitioner was previously made aware of them. The Court, without prejudice to the arguments of both sides, directed the Directorate of Enforcement to provide the documents in a sealed cover bearing the Directorate's seal. The decision on whether to review these documents would be made by the Court at a later stage. The Court scheduled the matter for further orders on a specific date, with interim protection granted to the Petitioner until that time.