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TMI Blog2022 (2) TMI 1011X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as stated above, under Section 65 r/w Section 71 of the PMLA, Cr.P.C. will only apply where there is no inconsistency between both the statutes. In the present case, there is an inconsistency between the procedure of arrest as provided under Section 19 of the PMLA and Section 41 41-A of the Cr.P.C. Therefore, PMLA being a special statute will prevail over the Cr.P.C. The provisions relating to arrest and the protections under Cr.P.C were made applicable to the D C Act as no express provision of arrest is provided under the said Act. The power of arrest was impliedly read into the he D C Act by broadly interpreting Section 22(1)(d) which provides that the Inspector has such other powers as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of the D C Act. To check the wide power of the Inspector, the Court held that the arrests should be made in accordance with the Cr.P.C. implying the applicability of Section 41-A. However PMLA provides a specific procedure for arrests and enough safeguards to check illegal arrests. Thus, this Court holds that Sections 41 and 41A of the Cr.P.C. is not applicable to arrests made under Section 19 of the PMLA. Whether the Designated Court can ret ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s upon arrest against all cognizable offences, and in the wake of the aforesaid question relieving the petitioners from unnecessary disgrace and harassment would not arise - it can be said that an ordinary bail is sought by an accused to be released from the custody of the police, whereas anticipatory bail application is filed in anticipation of arrest and to prevent the police from taking custody of the accused. If the person is not in custody of the police, an application under Section 438 of the Cr.P.C. is maintainable. The Court has to see whether a person is apprehending arrest and subsequent custody of the police. Though the accused was arrested under Section 19 of the PMLA, he was released following the impugned order dated 18.12.2021. He was not in DOE S custody when the Crl.P.No. 10021 of 2021 was filed, therefore, he had filed an anticipatory bail application apprehending that DOE might take him into custody again. Therefore, the anticipatory bail application filed by the accused in maintainable. Section 45 of the PMLA prescribes twin conditions to be satisfied for granting bail. Bail can only be granted if the Public Prosecutor has been given an opportunity to oppo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short, the Cr.P.C. ) to quash the proceedings in SR.No.8729 of 2021, dated 18.12.2021 on the file of the learned Metropolitan Sessions Judge at Nampally, Hyderabad. 3. The Crl.P.No.9846 of 2021 is filed by the DOE under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. to quash the proceedings in SR.No.8731 of 2021, dated 18.12.2021 on the file of the learned Metropolitan Sessions Judge at Nampally, Hyderabad. 4. The Crl.P.No.10021 of 2021 is filed under Section 438 of the Cr.P.C. to enlarge the petitioner herein/Accused No.7 and respondent in Crl.P.No.9846 of 2021 on bail in the event of his arrest in Enforcement Cases Information Report (ECIR) i.e.,ECIR/HYZO/22/2019 dated 23.12.2019 lodged by the DOE. 5. Vide note dated 31.12.2021, the Hon ble Chief Justice directed the registry to list Crl.P.No.10021 of 2021 along with the Crl.P.No.9846 of 2021 before the Court having roster to deal with Criminal Petitions (quash) from 2018 onwards. Therefore, the Crl.P.No.10021 of 2021 was heard along with the Crl.P.No.9846 of 2021 and disposed of by this order. 6. Heard Sri T.Suryakaran Reddy, learned Additional Solicitor General of India representing Sri Gadi Pra ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... an application vide SR.No.8729 of 2021 under Section 167 of Cr.P.C. On 18.12.2021. v) The said application was returned by the learned Sessions Judge on the ground that no notice under Section 41-A of Cr.P.C. was issued by DOE to the respondent. vi). Challenging the said order, the DOE filed the present petition seeking to quash the said order dated 18.12.2021. 8. Facts of the case in Crl.P.No.9846 of 2021. i). ACB, Telangana registered 8 FIRs against the officials of the Insurance Medical Services (IMS), Telangana and other private persons in connection with the note orders of Principal Secretary of Labour, Training and Insurance Medical Services, Telangana on account of misappropriation in allocation of purchase orders for procurement of medicines and other medical equipment intended to be used in various ESI dispensaries in Telangana. ii) On the basis of the said FIRs, since the offences alleged against the respondent and other accused are predicate/scheduled offences, investigation was initiated under the PMLA by the DOE. The total proceeds of crime are valued at ₹ 144,42,67,813/- among three IMS officials, two suppliers and their family members incl ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a specific provision and procedure to arrest any person who has been guilty of an offence under the PMLA under Section 19 and under Prevention of Money Laundering (forms and manner of arrest of the person along with the material to the adjudicating authority and its period of registration) Rules 2005. The DOE has followed the said procedure under the said Rules and arrested the respondent. iii) The grounds of arrest were informed to the respondent and there are reasons to believe that the respondent has been guilty of the offences punishable under the PMLA. iv) There is material in DOE s possession to the said effect. Therefore, there is no illegality in arresting the respondent. v) The Designated Court, without considering the said fact, erroneously, returned the remand application filed by DOE on the ground that the DOE has not complied with the procedure laid down under Section 41-A of the Cr.P.C. vi) Referring to Sections 65 71 of the PMLA, he would submit that PMLA being a special statute will prevail over the provisions of the Cr.P.C. which is a general statute. Therefore, there is no need to comply with Section 41-A of the Cr.P.C. vii) The Designat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... re him eleven times. The respondent has a right to remain silent which is a fundamental right under Article 20(3) of the Constitution of India. ii) His statements were recorded ten times under section 50 of the PMLA. iii) Punishment prescribed for the offences alleged against the respondent/accused is below 7 years. Therefore, the DOE has to mandatorily follow Section 41 A of theCr.P.C. iv) Referring to Sections 41-A, 41 B, 41C and 41 D of the Cr.P.C. and also the guidelines issued in D.K.Basu and Arnesh Kumar (supra) it was contended that the DOE has not followed the said guidelines. Further, there was a delay of two years in arresting the respondent. v) The DOE has not complied with the conditions for arrest prescribed under Section 19 of the PMLA. They have not placed the relevant material except the copies of FIRs registered by the ACB, Telangana in the ECIR registered by them; arrest memo and grounds of arrest narrating the reasons to believe; copies of medical certificate of the respondent; copies of Covid-19 test report before the Designated Court to satisfy the Court with regard to compliance of twin conditions of Section 19 of the PMLA. vi) The application f ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nt to discuss the applicability of Cr.P.C. to the proceedings initiated under the PMLA. Therefore, it is apposite to discuss the relevant provisions which provide the scope of Cr.P.C. s application to PMLA proceedings. Section 4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 4. Trial of offences under the Indian Penal Code and other laws. - (1) All offences under the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) shall be investigated, inquired into, tried, and otherwise dealt with according to the provisions hereinafter contained. (2) All offences under any other law shall be investigated, inquired into, tried, and otherwise dealt with according to the same provisions, but subject to any enactment for the time being in force regulating the manner of place of investigating, inquiring into, trying or otherwise dealing with such offences. Section 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 5. Saving. - Nothing contained in this Code shall, in the absence of a specific provision to the contrary, affect any special or local law for the time being in force, or any special jurisdiction or power conferred, or any special form of procedure prescribed, by any other law for the time being i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... withstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in force. PMLA has an overriding effect and the provisions of CrPC would apply only if they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act. Therefore, the conditions enumerated in Section 45 of PMLA will have to be complied with even in respect of an application for bail made under Section 439 CrPC. That coupled with the provisions of Section 24 provides that unless the contrary is proved, the authority or the Court shall presume that proceeds of crime are involved in money-laundering and the burden to prove that the proceeds of crime are not involved, lies on the appellant. 20. From the above discussion, it is clear that the provisions of the Cr.P.C. will be applicable to PMLA proceedings as long as there is no inconsistency between both the statues. In case of any inconsistency or where separate provisions exist in both the statutes governing the same subject matter, the PMLA will override Cr.P.C. 21. To decide whether compliance of Section 41-A under the Cr.P.C. is mandatory before arresting a person under Section 19 of the PMLA, this Court has to determine whether any incon ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... son to believe on the basis of that information that such person has committed the said offence;] (c) who has been proclaimed as an offender either under this Code or by order of the State Government; or (d) in whose possession anything is found which may reasonably be suspected to be stolen property and who may reasonably be suspected of having committed an offence with reference to such thing; or (e) who obstructs a police officer while in the execution of his duty, or who has escaped, or attempts to escape, from lawful custody; or (f) who is reasonably suspected of being a deserter from any of the Armed Forces of the Union; or (g) who has been concerned in, or against whom a reasonable complaint has been made, or credible information has been received, or a reasonable suspicion exists, of his having been concerned in, any act committed at any place out of India which, if committed in India, would have been punishable as an offence, and for which he is, under any law relating to extradition, or otherwise, liable to be apprehended or detained in custody in India; or (h) who, being a released convict, commits a breach of any rule made under sub-section ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code is registered but to satisfy themselves about the necessity for arrest under the parameters laid down above flowing from Section 41, Code of Criminal Procedure; (2) All police officers be provided with a check list containing specified sub-clauses Under Section 41(1)(b)(ii); (3) The police officer shall forward the check list duly filed and furnish the reasons and materials which necessitated the arrest, while forwarding/producing the accused before the Magistrate for further detention; (4) The Magistrate while authorising detention of the accused shall peruse the report furnished by the police officer in terms aforesaid and only after recording its satisfaction, the Magistrate will authorise detention; (5) The decision not to arrest an accused, be forwarded to the Magistrate within two weeks from the date of the institution of the case with a copy to the Magistrate which may be extended by the Superintendent of police of the district for the reasons to be recorded in writing; (6) Notice of appearance in terms of Section 41-A of Code of Criminal Procedure be served on the accused within two weeks from the date of insti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he manner, as may be prescribed and such Adjudicating Authority shall keep such order and material for such period, as may be prescribed. (3) Every person arrested under sub-section (1) shall, within twenty-four hours, be taken to a Special Court or Judicial Magistrate or a Metropolitan Magistrate, as the case may be, having jurisdiction: Provided that the period of twenty-four hours shall exclude the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to the Special Court or Magistrate s Court. Section 45 of the PMLA 45. Offences to be cognizable and non-bailable. - (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), no person accused of an offence under this Act shall be released on bail or on his own bond unless (i) the Public Prosecutor has been given a opportunity to oppose the application for such release; and (ii) where the Public Prosecutor opposes the application, the court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail: Provided that a person, who, is under the age of sixteen yea ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... mmissions for examination of witnesses and documents; and (f) any other matter which may be prescribed. (2) The Director, Additional Director, Joint Director, Deputy Director or Assistant Director shall have power to summon any person whose attendance he considers necessary whether to give evidence or to produce any records during the course of any investigation or proceeding under this Act. (3) All the persons so summoned shall be bound to attend in person or through authorised agents, as such officer may direct, and shall be bound to state the truth upon any subject respecting which they are examined or make statements, and produce such documents as may be required. (4) Every proceeding under sub-sections (2) and (3) shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding within the meaning of section 193 and section 228 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860). (5) Subject to any rules made in this behalf by the Central Government, any officer referred to in sub-section (2) may impound and retain in his custody for such period, as he thinks fit, any records produced before him in any proceedings under this Act: Provided that an Assistant Director or a Deputy Direc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... (45 of 1860). 22. Section 19 of the PMLA, specifically, provides for the manner and procedure for arrest of a person who is accused of committing an offence of money laundering. Section 19 of the PMLA is a special provision governing arrest of persons accused of committing an offence of money laundering. The general power and procedure of arrest provided under Sections 41 41-A of the Cr.P.C. are not applicable to a special statute which envisages a different procedure. 23. In other words, what is sought to be provided under Section 41-A of the Cr.P.C. is provided under Section 19 of the PMLA. Further, as stated above, under Section 65 r/w Section 71 of the PMLA, Cr.P.C. will only apply where there is no inconsistency between both the statutes. In the present case, there is an inconsistency between the procedure of arrest as provided under Section 19 of the PMLA and Section 41 41-A of the Cr.P.C. Therefore, PMLA being a special statute will prevail over the Cr.P.C. 24. Section 41 of the Cr.P.C. provides that police officers have the power to arrest a person, inter alia, on the grounds of reasonable complaint or reasonable suspicion. Section 41-A of the Cr.P.C. states ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... appended to these rules inside the envelope before sealing it. (3) The Arresting Officer shall indicate a reference number and date of despatch on the sealed envelope. (4) The sealed envelope shall be marked Confidential and To be opened by the addressee only , the complete address of the Adjudicating Authority including his name shall be mentioned on the sealed envelope with the official seal. (5) The Arresting Officer shall place the sealed envelope inside an outer envelope, along with an acknowledgement slip in Form II appended to these rules. (6) The outer envelope shall be sealed and complete address of the Adjudicating Authority shall be mentioned on the sealed outer envelope. (7) The Arresting Officer shall maintain registers and other records such as acknowledgement slip register, dak register for the purposes of this rule and shall ensure that necessary entries are made in the register immediately as soon the copy of the order and the material are forwarded to the Adjudicating Authority. Therefore, a completely different procedure of arrest is provided under the PMLA, which will override Section 41-A of the Cr.P.C. 27. The legislature ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... (Act 5 of 2009). It was brought in to protect individual liberty of people by preventing their arrest on the ground of mere suspicion. The object behind Section 41-A is to check the police officer s power of arrest and to prevent illegal arrests. 31. Section 19 of the PMLA provides for protection against illegal arrests in the form of recording reasons to believe in writing based on the material in possession of the arresting officer. The arrest can only be made if material exists that justifies the arrest of a person. Further, Section 62 of the PMLA provides for punishment of officers making illegal arrests. Further, a person based on whose false information an arrest is made is also punishable under Section 63 of the PMLA. 32. The Apex Court in P. Chidambaram v. Directorate of Enforcement (2019) 9 SCC 24., explaining the safeguards provided under Section 19 of the PMLA held as follows: 33. Section 19 of PMLA deals with the power of the specified officer to arrest. Under Sub-section (1) of Section 19 of PMLA, the specified officer viz. the Director, the Deputy Director, Assistant Director or any other officer authorised in this behalf by the Central Government by gen ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hable under PMLA. In cases of PMLA, in exercising the power to grant anticipatory bail would be to scuttle the statutory power of the specified officers to arrest which is enshrined in the statute with sufficient safeguards. Further, as stated above, Section 41-A provides that police officer has to issue a notice where the arrest of a person is not required. A similar provision is provided in the form of Section 50 of the PMLA which grants the authorised officer to summon a person to give evidence or produce any records. In the present cases also, the accused were arrested as they failed to cooperate with the investigation when the Section 50 proceedings were underway. Therefore, it cannot be contended that safeguards against illegal arrests as sought to be provided under Section 41-A of the Cr.P.C. is not available under the PMLA. 33. It can be argued that that Section 41-A of the Cr.P.C. grants prearrest protection and Section 19 of the PMLA provides safeguards during the arrest and post-arrest. This Court is not inclined to grant pre-arrest protection under Section 41-A of the Cr.P.C. considering the object of PMLA and the impact of money laundering on our economy. Econo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... forcement Directorate and considering the stage of the investigation, we are of the view that it is not a fit case to grant anticipatory bail. 82. In a case of money-laundering where it involves many stages of placement , layering i.e. funds moved to other institutions to conceal origin and interrogation i.e. funds used to acquire various assets , it requires systematic and analysed investigation which would be of great advantage. As held in Anil Sharma, success in such interrogation would elude if the Accused knows that he is protected by a pre-arrest bail order. Section 438 Code of Criminal Procedure is to be invoked only in exceptional cases where the case alleged is frivolous or groundless. In the case in hand, there are allegations of laundering the proceeds of the crime. The Enforcement Directorate claims to have certain specific inputs from various sources, including overseas banks. Letter rogatory is also said to have been issued and some response have been received by the department. Having regard to the nature of allegations and the stage of the investigation, in our view, the investigating agency has to be given sufficient freedom in the process of investi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... urt therein ignored the separate procedure of arrest provided under the NDPS Act. Further, the Court therein relied on the decision in Vakamulla (supra) ignoring the stay ordered by the Supreme Court. Therefore, the said decision cannot be applied. 38. In P.V. Ramana Reddy (supra) this Court, inter alia, had to decide whether the officers under the Central Goods and Services Act, 2017 (hereinafter CGST Act ) are police officers and whether protection under Section 41-A of the Cr.P.C is applicable to arrests under the CGST Act. The Court therein held as follows: 40. Therefore, (1) in the light of the fact that Section 69(1) of the CGST Act, 2017 authorizes the arrest only of persons who are believed to have committed cognizable and non-bailable offences, but Section 69(3) of the CGST Act, 2017 deals with the grant of bail and the procedure for grant of bail even to persons who are arrested in connection with non-cognizable and bailable offences and (2) in the light of the fact that the Commissioner of GST is conferred with the powers of search and seizure under Section 67(10) of the CGST Act, 2017, in the same manner as provided in Section 165 of the Cr.P.C, 1973, the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e kept in mind. 61. In view of the above, despite our finding that the writ petitions are maintainable and despite our finding that the protection under Sections 41 and 41-A of Cr.P.C, may be available to persons said to have committed cognizable and nonbailable offences under this Act and despite our finding that there are incongruities within Section 69 and between Sections 69 and 132 of the CGST Act, 2017, we do not wish to grant relief to the petitioners against arrest, in view of the special circumstances which we have indicated above . 39. The decision in P.V. Ramana Reddy (supra) also does not help the accused. The CGST Act does not contemplate a separate procedure of arrest as envisaged under Section 19 and Rules, 2005. Although, the Court held that Section 41-A of the Cr.P.C. may apply to arrests made under CGST Act, it did not render a conclusive decision regarding its applicability. The Court only held that protection under Section 41-A of the Cr.P.C. may apply to arrest under CGST Act. It is clear from the paragraph No. 40 of the judgment that the court held that what is envisaged under Section 41-A is already ingrained in Section 70(1) of CGST Act. Furthe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... by the Fundamental Right protected under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Keeping the Police Officer out from the categories of persons, who could prosecute offenders for offences under Chapter IV of the Act, is also a carefully thought out ideal. 150. Declaring the power to arrest with the Inspector, is not to be understood as proclaiming that the Inspector is bound to arrest any person. The provisions of the CrPC, relating to arrest, would necessarily have to be followed by the Drugs Inspector. In fact, he is obliged to bear in mind the law, as declared by this Court in D.K. Basu (supra), and the peril of defying the same, would be to invite consequences, inter alia, as are provided therein. As far as the arrest, not being mentioned in Section 34AA, as forming a ground for visiting the delinquent Officer with penalty, it may be noticed that there is a residuary power in Section 34AA and it would cover any act. We notice that Section 34AA(d) provides that if any Inspector, exercising powers under the Act or the Rules made thereunder, commits, as such Inspector, any other act, to the injury of any person without having reason to believe that such act is required f ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the PMLA replaces Section 41A of the Cr.P.C. Therefore, at the cost of repetition, this Court holds that Sections 41 and 41A of the Cr.P.C. is not applicable to arrests made under Section 19 of the PMLA. 43. The learned Additional Solicitor General relying on State of Punjab v. Barkat Ram (2015) 15 SCC 1., Badku Joti Savant v. State of Mysore (1966) 3 SCR 698 and Illias v. Collector of Customs Madras AIR 1970 SC 1065., contended that Section 41 of the Cr.P.C will apply only to police officers and not to authorized officers empowered to arrest under Section 19 of the PMLA. According to this Court, the said contention is not germane to decide the applicability of Cr.P.C. to arrests under PMLA. Issue 2: 44. The next issue to be decided is whether the Designated Court constituted under the PMLA has the power to return an application for remand filed under Section 167(2) of the Cr.P.C. on the ground of noncompliance of Section 41-A of the Cr.P.C. 45. The impugned order dated 18.12.2021 passed in SR. No. 8731 of 2021 challenged in Crl.P.No. 9846 of 2021 is extracted below: SR. No. 8731 of 2021 Date: 18-12-2021 Accused produced at 1.00.pm on 18-12- ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ws: 24. The act of directing remand of an accused is fundamentally a judicial function. The Magistrate does not act in executive capacity while ordering the detention of an accused. While exercising this judicial act, it is obligatory on the part of the Magistrate to satisfy himself whether the materials placed before him justify such a remand or, to put it differently, whether there exist reasonable grounds to commit the accused to custody and extend his remand. The purpose of remand as postulated under Section 167 is that investigation cannot be completed within 24 hours. It enables the Magistrate to see that the remand is really necessary. This requires the investigating agency to send the case diary along with the remand report so that the Magistrate can appreciate the factual scenario and apply his mind whether there is a warrant for police remand or justification for judicial remand or there is no need for any remand at all. It is obligatory on the part of the Magistrate to apply his mind and not to pass an order of remand automatically or in a mechanical manner. 49. It is also relevant to note that neither the Cr.P.C. nor the Criminal Rules of Practice have any provi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... it but, the expression anticipatory bail is a convenient mode of conveying that it is possible to apply for bail in anticipation of arrest. Any order of bail can, of course, be effective only from the time of arrest because, to grant bail, as stated in Wharton's LAW LEXICON, is to set at liberty a person arrested or imprisoned, on security being taken for his appearance . Thus, bail is basically release from restraint, more particularly, release from the custody of the police. The act of arrest directly affects freedom of movement of the person arrested by the police, and speaking generally, an order of bail gives back to the accused that freedom on condition that he will appear to take his trial. Personal recognizance, suretyship bonds and such other modalities are the means by which an assurance is secured from the accused that though he has been released on bail, he will present himself at the trial of offence or offences of which he is charged and for which he was arrested. The distinction between an ordinary order of bail and an order of anticipatory bail is that whereas the former is granted after arrest and therefore means release from the custody of the police, the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ough the accused was arrested under Section 19 of the PMLA, he was released following the impugned order dated 18.12.2021. He was not in DOE S custody when the Crl.P.No. 10021 of 2021 was filed, therefore, he had filed an anticipatory bail application apprehending that DOE might take him into custody again. Therefore, the anticipatory bail application filed by the accused in maintainable. 60. The next issue to be decided is whether the accused is entitled for anticipatory bail in the present case. It is to be noted that a separate procedure and conditions for grant of bail are prescribed under Section 45 of the PMLA. Recently, the Supreme Court in The Assistant Director Enforcement Directorate v. Dr. V.C. Mohan CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.21 OF 2022 (Arising from the SLP(Crl.) No. 8441 of 2021). has held that the conditions of bail as prescribed under Section 45 of the PMLA have to be satisfied for grant of anticipatory bail. The Supreme Court has held as follows: For the nature of order that we propose to pass suffice it to observe that the High Court considered the matter as if it was dealing with prayer for anticipatory bail in connection with ordinary offence under the In ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e Cr.P.C. 63. The Apex Court has consistently held that economic offences constitute a class apart and bail should be granted by exercising caution and appreciating the nature of the allegations. In P. Chidambaram (supra), referring to the decision in Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy Vs. CBI (2013) 7 SCC 439 , the Supreme Court has held that grant of anticipatory bail in serious economic offences like money laundering may frustrate the investigation and make it difficult for the investigating agency to collect evidence. Therefore, only when reasonable grounds exist regarding the innocence of the accused bail should be granted. 64. Other factors to be considered while granting anticipatory bail were laid down by the Supreme Court in Satlingappa Mhetre v. State of Maharashtra (2011) 1 SCC 694 wherein the following was held: The following factors and parameters can be taken into consideration while dealing with the anticipatory bail: i. The nature and gravity of the accusation and the exact role of the accused must be properly comprehended before arrest is made; ii. The antecedents of the applicant including the fact as to whether the accused has previously undergone i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... flated prices, bribing and influencing public servants, etc. 67. According to the DOE, the Petitioner was summoned under Section 50 of the PMLA. However, he has remained non-cooperative and has failed to divulge the proceeds of crime and the names of other officials, bureaucrats and politicians involved in the crime. Therefore, the DOE sought the custody of the accused for further investigation. According to the accused the ECIR was registered based on the FIRs filed by the ACB, Telangana. The ECIR was registered in 2019 and the accused has always cooperated with the investigation and has appeared eleven (11) times before the authorities and has furnished all the relevant documents. They have conducted searches in the residential and office premises of the accused and have also attached his properties as alleged proceeds of crime. Therefore, the investigation by the DOE is at the stage of completion. 68. It is relevant to note that the DOE had enclosed the grounds of arrest along with the arrest order in Form No.III issued under Rule 6 of the Rules, 2005. In the grounds of arrest, details about the registration of crime, issuance of summons, recording of statements, etc. are ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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