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TMI Blog2019 (8) TMI 1032X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... are: (i) Gravity of offence and (ii) evasive replies given by petitioner to the questions put to him while he was under protective cover extended to him by this Court. The parameters governing pre-arrest bail and regular bail are altogether different. I have pondered over this matter for long and after weighing the pros and cons, as of considered view that the gravity of the offence committed in the instant case amply justifies denial of pre-arrest bail to petitioner. Grant of pre-arrest bail in a serious matter like instant one to an accused simply on the ground that investigation is complete and charge sheet has been filed, would defeat the ends of justice. In bail matters, gravity of the offence is of utmost consideration which weighs with the Court in granting or refusing pre-arrest bail or regular bail. The facts of this case persuades me to decline pre-arrest bail to petitioner while refraining to comment on the merits of the case. Upon considering the case set up against petitioner in its entirety, this Court is of prima facie opinion that it is not a fit case for grant of pre-arrest bail to petitioner. - BAIL APPLN. 1316/2018, 1713/2018 And Crl. M. A. 10976/2018, Cr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Karti P. Chidambaram (i.e. petitioner's son), unknown officers/officials of the Ministry of Finance and other unknown persons under Section 120B r/w Section 420 of IPC and Section 8 and Section 13 (1)(d) r/w Section 13(2) of the PC Act. The petitioner was not named as an accused or suspect; there is no allegation against the petitioner in the body of the FIR. The allegation in the FIR was that M/s INX Media Pvt. Ltd. had made down-stream investment without obtaining prior approval of the FIPB and, in order to regularize that investment, had approached the petitioner's son and made a payment of ₹ 10 Lakh to another company allegedly associated with petitioner's son. It is submitted that petitioner learnt that it is the case of the said company that it had received the said payment towards consultancy work and further, the petitioner's son was never a shareholder or Director of the said company. It is further submitted by petitioner's counsel that ECIR/07/HIU/2017 is baseless, politically motivated and an act of vendetta against petitioner and his son, because petitioner is a vocal critic and opponent of the present Central Government both inside Parliament ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in any manner. The precise argument of learned senior counsel for petitioner is that if any of the offences are applied qua petitioner, it would amount to giving retrospective application to the provisions of the PMLA which would be violative of petitioner s fundamental rights enshrined under Article 20(3) of the Constitution of India, 1950. To submit so, reliance is placed upon decision in Arun Kumar Mishra Vs. Directorate of Enforcement 2015 SCC OnLine Del 8658. 8. It was pointed out by learned senior counsel for petitioner that in the case of co-accused Karti Chidambaram, this Court had stayed the arrest of petitioner in proceedings under the PMLA and so, petitioner is also entitled to similar relief. Learned senior counsel for petitioner submits that there are no allegations of petitioner tampering with the evidence and nothing is to be recovered from petitioner and that co-accused of petitioner are already on anticipatory bail or statutory bail and thus, petitioner deserves to be granted pre-arrest bail, as his antecedents are impeccable. 9. It was also pointed out that petitioner is a sitting member of Rajya Sabha and there are no chances of hi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... so found to be a beneficiary of the Proceeds of Crime and to unearth the money trail, custodial interrogation of petitioner is essential. Learned Attorney General of India has sought to rely upon the diary of proceedings of investigation and has handed over a copy of the diary of proceedings of investigation in a sealed cover to the Court for perusal while seeking to maintain confidentiality in respect of these case diaries. Highlighting the non-cooperation in investigation by petitioner, learned Attorney General of India had vehemently submitted that in the absence of custodial interrogation of petitioner, investigation in this case cannot be taken to its logical conclusion and in view of nature of gravity of offence, custodial investigation of petitioner be granted. It is submitted that petitioner is giving evasive replies and is not cooperating in the investigation while he is under the protective umbrella of interim orders. 11. Reliance is place upon decision in CBI Vs. Anil Sharma (1997) 7 SCC 187 to justify custodial interrogation of petitioner by pointing out that interrogation conducted under the protection order of the Court has proved to be a mere ritual in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 62875 392344 3070531 Span 2007-08 Q3 2617386 296550 2320836 Span 2007-08 Q4 2573662 291596 2282066 Span TOTAL 12529000 1419536 11109464 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Q4 2257155 255735 2001420 Satyam TOTAL 10097475 1144043 8953432 Grand Total 30862044 3496668 27365376/- 13. From the investigation conducted, it appeared that ASCPL and other concerns are beneficially controlled and managed by Karti P. Chidambaram. The beneficial ownership of Shri Karti P. Chidambaram in ASCPL and associated entity becomes clear from the projected facts enumerated as under:- (a) In the year 2009-10, Shri Karti P. Chidambaram secured mandate from Vasan Healthcare to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... M/s Castle Gordon Global Advisory Ltd. is the Director and partner of Shri Karti P. Chidamdaram in M/s Totus Tennis Ltd. (d) Incorporation expenses of M/s Ausbridge Holding and Investments Pvt. Ltd. (in which Karti P. Chidambaram and Mohanan Rajesh were promoters, directors and shareholders ) were paid by ASCPL vide cheque no. 116868 dated 23.02.2006. Karti P. Chidambaram held 95% shares in Ausbridge in 2006. (e) Mohanan Rajesh, Director in ASCPL and a schoolmate of Karti P. Chidambaram has disclosed in his statement that on Karti s instructions ASCPL allotted 66.67% of the total share to Ausbridge Holding and Investments Pvt. Ltd., a company for purchase of shares of ASCPL was made by Mohanan Rajesh from his personal account and he was later compensated by way of payments from companies controlled by acquaintances of Shri Karti P. Chidambaram. (f) Ms. Meena Saundarajan, a family friend of Karti P. Chidambaram, had transferred about ₹ 30 Lakhs to Ausbridge through her companies for purchase of shares of ASCPL on instructions of Karti P. Chidambaram. (g) Expenses on internet used on the telephone number 9884216000 use ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... orded under Section 50 of PMLA, the extracts of books of accounts of ASCPL as recovered from the hard disks of Shri S. Bhaskararaman seized from the premises of Shri Karti P. Chidambaram on 1.12.2015, banks statements of ASCPL, statements of people dealing with ASCPL recorded under section 50 of PMLA, emails of Shri Karti P. Chidambaram, Shri S. Bhaskararaman etc. recovered from the aforesaid hard disks seized on 1.12.2015 all show that every aspect of the business affairs of ASCPL was controlled by Karti P. Chidamabram, every expense incurred by ASCPL no matter how small was approved by Karti P. Chidambaram, expenses of Karti P. Chidambaram were paid by ASCPL and the people making payments to ASCPL said that the payments were made to Karti P. Chidambaram. This shows that the ASCPL was beneficially owned by Karti P. Chidambaram. 14. The investigation conducted reveals that ASCPL and other concerns are not conducting any genuine and bona fide business activities. The two Debit Notes raised by CBN Placement and Management Center dated 01.10.2007, 17.11.2007 and Debit Note dated 01.04.2008 of Kriya FMCG were prepared by Bhaskararaman, who had brought those Debit Notes ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d Kriya FMCG). The investigation conducted with the buyers of PSF shows that they had never interacted with ASCPL or associate entities. This fact was also admitted by the directors of ASCPL, including Sh. CBN Reddy who is also the proprietor of CBN Placement and Management Centre and the director and shareholder of Kriya FMCG. Sh. Bhaskararaman, the main person behind the laundering of these funds also stated that these debit notes were raised on the directions of Sh. Karti P. Chidambaram to show some transaction which in-fact did not occur. It is further revealed that fake invoices were raised to the companies by ASCPL and other concerns in order to show and legitimize the payments received from those companies which were in fact the bribe money for the favours shown by the petitioner. It is also established that the money was collected by Karti P. Chidambaram through these concerns on behalf of the petitioner for the favours shown by the petitioner to the companies who had transferred money into the account of ASCPL and other concerns. The illegal gratification collected was thereafter invested in other companies /entities. The money received by ASCPL from M/s Span Fibre India P ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as projected by the Investigating Agencies that ASCPL received ₹ 22,50,00,600/- from Sequoia for sale of Vasan shares and this money is tainted money as it arises out of sale of shares of Vasan Healthcare that are themselves acquired from tainted funds and is property involved in money laundering. It is further projected that the remaining shares of Vasan Health Care held by ASCPL is properly involved in money laundering and thereafter, ASCPL sold further 36245 share of Vasan to Vasan Medical Hall @ ₹ 5242/- per share at a total value of ₹ 19 Crores. Therefore, it is projected that the amount of ₹ 19 Crores is also property involved in money laundering as it is arising from sale of shares of Vasan i.e. property involved in money laundering. 20. The investigation conducted further reveals as follows:- Out of the above property involved in money laundering i.e. amount received by ASCPL from sale of shares of Vasan Healthcare, further property was purchased including that of AGS Healthcare acquired for ₹ 11 Crores. These shares are also property involved in money laundering as they were bought from tainted money. They were f ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... actually stiffs the prosecution. This Court cannot permit the prosecution in this sensitive case to end up in smoke like it has happened in some other high profile cases. Tendering of charge-sheet after obtaining sanction for prosecution of petitioner cannot dilute the gravity of the offence in question. Both the sides have cited legal precedents but the facts of instant case prima facie reveal that petitioner is the king pin i.e. the key conspirator in this case. Law enforcing agencies cannot be made ineffective by putting legal obstacles of offences in question being Scheduled or not Scheduled, as these legal pleas are sub-judice before Supreme Court and cannot persuade this Court to grant pre-arrest bail, as the gravity of offence committed by petitioner is quite evident from case diaries etc. produced by the Investigating Agencies. The gravity of offence committed by petitioner demands denial of pre-arrest bail to him. 22. Economic offences constitute a class part and need to be visited with a different approach in matters of bail. Taking note of huge magnitude of conspiracy angle qua petitioner, it would be premature to jump to a conclusion that provisions of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... er what their status is. Petitioner is member of legal fraternity too. But this by itself does not and cannot justify concession of pre-arrest bail to him. Discretion to grant or deny pre-arrest bail cannot be exercised de hors the gravity of offence. It would be preposterous to say that prosecution of petitioner is baseless, politically motivated and act of vendetta as on the basis of material collected so far, it can be safely said that prima facie case is made out against petitioner, thereby, justifying denial of pre-arrest bail to him. The magnitude of this case dissuades this Court to grant pre-arrest bail to petitioner. 26. The pertinent observations of Supreme Court in CBI Vs. Anil Sharma (Supra) which aptly apply to the instant case, are as follows:- 6. We find force in the submission of the CBI that custodial interrogation is qualitatively more elicitation-oriented than questioning a suspect who is well ensconced with a favourable order under Section 438 of the Code. In a case like this effective interrogation of a suspected person is of tremendous advantage in disinterring many useful informations and also materials which would have bee ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ive replies given by petitioner to the questions put to him while he was under protective cover extended to him by this Court. The parameters governing pre-arrest bail and regular bail are altogether different. I have pondered over this matter for long and after weighing the pros and cons, I am of the considered view that the gravity of the offence committed in the instant case amply justifies denial of pre-arrest bail to petitioner. Grant of pre-arrest bail in a serious matter like instant one to an accused simply on the ground that investigation is complete and charge sheet has been filed, would defeat the ends of justice. In bail matters, gravity of the offence is of utmost consideration which weighs with the Court in granting or refusing pre-arrest bail or regular bail. The facts of this case persuades me to decline pre-arrest bail to petitioner while refraining to comment on the merits of the case. 30. Upon considering the case set up against petitioner in its entirety, this Court is of prima facie opinion that it is not a fit case for grant of pre-arrest bail to petitioner. Consequentially, both these applications are accordingly disposed of, while observing t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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