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2024 (3) TMI 355 - HC - Money LaunderingAttachment of property - It is the specific case of the petitioner that the department instead of proceeding with Resurvey No.47/6A2, which stands in the name of the seventh respondent, has wrongly included Resurvey No.47/6B2 owned by the writ petitioner - HELD THAT - The persons involved in the prize chits and money circulation were all arrayed as accused and on completion of investigation, final report was filed and the same was taken on file by the respective Metropolitan Magistrate (Sub Sessions Court, Egmore, Chennai). After filing the final report, the Enforcement Directorate found that the offence alleged to have been committed also attracts the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA Act) and therefore, the case was registered under PMLA Act against the persons, who were managing M/s.Oakdale Properties Private Limited and its sister concerns. This case was taken on file in C.C.No.7 of 2018 on the file of the Special Court constituted under PMLA Act. The Enforcement Directorate also thought fit to invoke the provisions of interim attachment as contemplated under the PMLA Act and the properties of Ms/Oakdale Properties Private Limited came to be attached. While so, the writ petitioner herein claiming that her property, which falls under Resurvey No. 47/6B2 had been wrongly attached. Therefore, the petitioner has filed this writ petition seeking to quash the provisional attachment order dated 05.04.2017 and to correct the survey number in the impugned provisional attachment order. As stated by the learned counsel for the respondents 1 to 3 since the entire proceedings initiated against the seventh respondent has been quashed, both predicate offence as well as the offence under PMLA Act, this Court is of the view that the relief as prayed for in the writ petition has become infructuous and the error of including the property of the petitioner in the attachment proceedings herein has to be rectified. The sub registrar/sixth respondent is directed to delete any entry in respect of Resurvey No.47/6B2, which were made pursuant to the proceedings of the Enforcement Directorate - Petition dismissed.
Issues involved:
The issue involves the wrongful attachment of property under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the subsequent quashing of proceedings against the seventh respondent, leading to the need for rectification of the attachment order and deletion of erroneous property details. Summary of Judgment: Issue 1: Attachment of Wrong Property The petitioner claimed that her property was wrongly included in the attachment proceedings under the PMLA Act, as the department mistakenly included Resurvey No.47/6B2 instead of Resurvey No.47/6A2 owned by the seventh respondent. The sale deed of M/s.Oakdale Properties Private Limited was relied upon to show the error in the attachment order. Issue 2: Quashing of Proceedings The proceedings initiated under the PMLA Act against the seventh respondent were quashed by the appellate authority, rendering the attachment of properties halted. The department acknowledged the quashing of the predicate offence and subsequent attachment proceedings, making the petitioner's claim for deletion of her property from the attachment list infructuous. Issue 3: Legal Observations The Court noted that the criminal case against M/s.Oakdale Properties Private Limited and its Directors led to the registration of a case under the PMLA Act. However, with the quashing of the proceedings, the error in including the petitioner's property in the attachment proceedings needed rectification. Conclusion: The Court directed the Sub Registrar to delete any entry related to the petitioner's property, Resurvey No.47/6B2, made pursuant to the Enforcement Directorate's proceedings. The writ petition was dismissed as infructuous, with no costs awarded, and the connected miscellaneous petition was closed.
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