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TMI Blog2022 (11) TMI 52X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on that the Supreme Court in Vijay Mandal Choudhary s case [ 2022 (7) TMI 1316 - SUPREME COURT ] has upheld the vires of the provisions contain in Section 8(4) of the PMLA. The said provision authorizes the Director or any other officer to take possession of the property regarding which provisional order of attachment has been confirmed. As per the Rule 5(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering (Taking Possession of Attached or Frozen Properties Confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority),Rules, 2013 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules of 2013), once the attachment of immovable property has been confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority and it is found to be in possession of the owner, the authorized officer has to issue a notice of eviction ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ppeals filed against two separate judgments dated 18th October, 2022, passed by learned Writ Court in WP(C) No.2269/2022 and WP(C) No.2270/2022. In both these cases common question of law which arose for consideration is whether for the purpose of taking possession of the property attached under Section 5 or frozen under sub-section 1-A of Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (hereinafter referred to as PMLA), the Director or any other officer authorized by him has to wait for the expiry of the period of limitation for filing appeal against the attachment order that has been confirmed in terms of sub-section (3) of Section 8 of the PMLA for taking its possession in terms of Section 8(4) of the PMLA. 2) The learned W ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rding to the respondents, is the illegal funds which they had received in lieu of issuance of arms licences. 5) A provisional attachment order of the aforesaid two properties was issued by the competent authority i.e., Deputy Director Enforcement Directorate, Jammu on 31st March, 2022. The said attachment order was confirmed by the competent authority in terms of its order dated 16th September, 2022. After passing of the aforesaid order of confirmation of provisional attachment in terms of Section 8(3) of the PMLA by the Adjudicating Authority, notice dated 23.09.2022 was issued by the Assistant Director, Directorate of Enforcement, Jammu, in exercise of its powers under Section 8(4) of the PMLA, whereby the appellants were directed to v ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... b-section (4) of Section 8 of the PMLA, clearly laid down that taking possession of the property before a formal order of confiscation is passed, merely on the basis of confirmation of provisional attachment order, should be an exception and not a rule. It is urged that there were no exceptional circumstances prevailing in the instant case, as such, taking of action in terms of Section 8(4) of the PMLA by the respondents cannot be countenanced in law. 9) There is no dispute to the legal position that the Supreme Court in Vijay Mandal Choudhary s case (supra) has upheld the vires of the provisions contain in Section 8(4) of the PMLA. The said provision authorizes the Director or any other officer to take possession of the property regardi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... has been attached by virtue of order of Adjudicating Authority. The jurisdiction to proceed under Section 8(4) of the PMLA would come into play immediately upon passing of the order of attachment by the Adjudicating Authority. There is no scope to interpret the provisions contained in Section 8(4) and Section 26 of the PMLA and Rule 5(2) of the Rules of 2013 to hold that for taking action under Section 8(4) of the PMLA, the authorized officer has to await the expiry of period of limitation i.e., 45 days. 11) The order of confirmation of attachment passed by the Adjudicating Authority is just like a decree of a civil court which becomes executable the moment it is drawn. Just like execution of a decree of civil court is not to await the p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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