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TMI Blog2022 (9) TMI 1423X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... also bears in mind the salutary principle that while a stay of a judgment may defer its enforcement inter partes, it does not efface the dictum thereof. The writ petitions shall stand disposed of with liberty reserved to the petitioners to appear before the concerned Adjudicating Authority and take all objections as may otherwise be permissible in law. X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... uthority duly constituted in terms of Section 6 of the PMLA. The Court is also informed that a similar challenge is pending consideration before the High Court for the State of Telangana in M/s Indus Rivers Health Sciences Limited. 4. However and as was rightly pointed out by Mr. Hossain, the issue of whether a single member can act as the Adjudicating Authority has been duly considered and answered by a Division Bench of the Court in J. Sekar V Union of India [2018 SCC OnLine Del 6523], where the following observations came to be made:- "Composition of the AA and AT 79. The Court next takes up the question of the composition of the AA on which extensive arguments were advanced by the learned counsel for the Petitioners. In this context, it must be noticed that under Section 6 PMLA, the AA is supposed to consist of the Chairperson and two other members - one of whom shall be a person having experience in the field of law. Section 6(3) further sets out what the qualifications for appointment as a member of an AA should be. One of those qualifications is that the person has to be qualified for appointment as a District Judge or a person in the field of law or a member of an Ind ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... er (JM) and not an Administrative Member (AM). 83. The reliance on L. Chandrakumar v. Union of India (supra) is misplaced. There the question was whether the ousting the jurisdiction of the High Court and vesting the powers of the High Court in a Tribunal is constitutionally valid. That is not what is sought to be done under Section 8 PMLA. It is only to provide an internal judicial review of the orders passed by the authorities under Section 5(1) PMLA. The AA under Section 8 PMLA cannot, therefore, be equated with an Administrative Tribunal under the Administrative Tribunals Act 1985 (ATA). The Central Administrative Tribunal under the ATA was vested with the powers originally with a High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution. Those were Tribunals under Article 323-B of the Constitution of India. The AA is not that kind of a Tribunal at all. The Court is, therefore, unable to agree with judgments of the learned Single Judges of the Sikkim and Gujarat High Courts in this context. 84. There are other reasons why the Court finds that the aforementioned decisions of the learned Single Judges of the Sikkim and Gujarat High Courts cannot be concurred with. They fail to notic ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hereof. In any case, it would be improper for this Court to either consider or tread down a path different from what was laid down in J. Sekar merely on the ground that a stay has been granted on the appeal of the Directorate. 6. The principal apprehension of the petitioners which was then expressed was that if the Adjudicating Authority were permitted to continue further, it may also result in them facing the spectre of being deprived of possession of the properties in question if ultimately the PAO is confirmed. That is an issue which would clearly be governed by the principles laid down by three learned Judge of the Supreme Court in the recent decision of Vijay Madanlal Choudhary and Others v. Union of India and Others [2022 SCC OnLine SC 929], where the following observations came to be made:- "304. The other grievance of the petitioners is in reference to the stipulation in sub-section (4) of Section 8 providing for taking possession of the property. This provision ought to be invoked only in exceptional situation keeping in mind the peculiar facts of the case. In that, merely because the provisional attachment order passed under Section 5(1) is confirmed, it does not follo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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