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TMI Blog2021 (1) TMI 1319X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... inal activity, acquired assets and had projected the proceeds of the crime as untainted property. In this scheme of things, the ECIR document really has no significance. The Special Public Prosecutor placed strong reliance on Section 294 Cr.P.C. to justify his request to the trial Court for marking an office copy of the ECIR form - The Special Public Prosecutor could have obtained the original of the ECIR form from the Adjudicating Authority in New Delhi either by sending a letter to him or filing a petition under Section 91 Cr.P.C. Instead of guiding the Court properly, he has relied upon a non-existent provision', viz. Section 300 C.R.P. In the worst scenario, where, the ECIR form itself is not marked during trial, that by itself, will not vitiate the trial, for the simple reason that, the objective satisfaction arrived at and recorded in the ECIR form by the Enforcement Officer that an investigation under the PML Act has to be commenced based on the knowledge acquired by him that the police have registered a case for a 'schedule offence', can, by no stretch of imagination, either lead to the proof of guilt or otherwise of the person prosecuted under the PML Act. Conv ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d in money laundering. 6. After completing the investigation, the Enforcement Directorate filed a complaint in C.C. No. 57 of 2016 against Justin Devadoss (A. 1), Bella Justin (A.2), JBJ City Developers Ltd. (A.3) and Samuel Sunder Singh George Knudson (A.4) for the offences under Sections 3 and 4 of the PML Act and the case is now pending trial on the file of the IX Additional Special Court for CBI Cases, Chennai. 7. On appearance of the accused, the copies of the relied upon documents were furnished to them and trial began with the examination of the prosecution witnesses. 8. On 20.01.2011, when the Special Public Prosecutor was examining the Assistant Director of Enforcement in-chief, he sought to mark the record relating to ECIR No. 10 of 2011 dated 20.01.2011 as a prosecution exhibit, which was objected to by the defence on the ground that the said document was not the original but a photocopy and insisted on marking of the original. 9. At that juncture, the learned Special Public Prosecutor filed a memo to dispense with the filing of the original on the ground that the same is with the Adjudicating Authority, New Delhi and prayed for dispensing with the filing of the same. Th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... forcement Directorate should produce the original ECIR before this Court in order to prove the offences as against the accused. 12. To appreciate what an ECIR form is, it may be necessary to extract it verbatim. ENFORCEMENT CASE INFORMATION REPORT (ECIR) 1. ECIR No. 10 Year 20 I Zone Chennai Sub-Zone - Date 25.1.2011 2. Nature of the scheduled offence : Scheduled Act(s) Section of the Act(s) Agency investigating scheduled offence IPC Sec. 420 of IPC The Tamil Nadu State Police Department, Economic Offences Wing-II, H.Qrs., Anna Nagar, Chennai 600 040 3. Source from which information/material received The Tamil Nadu State Police Department, Economic Offences Wing-II, H. Qrs., Anna Nagar, Chennai 600 040 4. Place(s) of occurrence Chennai 5. Details of known/suspected accused with full particulars: (attach separate sheet, if necessary) 1. Shri Justin Devadas @ David, Proprietor of M/s. JBJ City Developers and Managing Director of M/s. JBJ City Developers Limited, No. 1741, 1st Floor, 18th Main Road, Anna Nagar, Chennai 600 040; and 2. Others 6. Details of property initially suspected to be proceeds of crime: (attach separate sheet, if necessary) a) Movable : (has to be ascertained) b) ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d Shri. Justin Devadas @ David, Proprietor of M/s. JBJ City Developers, No. 1741, 1st Floor, 18th Main Road, Anna Nagar, Chennai - 40 others, in the Tamil Nadu State Police Department, EOW - II H.Q., Chennai 40. Further, based on the above said complaint filed by the said Shri. T. Ragotthaman, another FIR No. 1 of 2010 dated 25.1.2010 was registered u/s. 341, 352, 420, 506(i) of IPC and 5 of TNPID Act, against the said Shri. Justin Devadas @ David, Managing Director of M/s. JBJ City Developers Ltd., No. 1741, 1st Floor, 18th Main Road, Anna Nagar, Chennai 40, in the Tamil Nadu State Police Department, EOW-II, H.Q. Chennai - 40. Copies of the above said FIRs No. 09/2009 dated 16.12.2009 and 1/2010 dated 25.1.2010 were received from the Tamil Nadu Police, Economic Offences Wing, Anna Nagar, Chennai - 40, along with confession statements dated 23.01.2010 and 15.02.2010 given by the said Shri Justin Devadas @ David before the police officials. On the basis of the aforesaid information/copies of the documents in possession of this Directorate, there appears to be a prima facie case relating to an offence of Money Laundering under Section 3 of the PMLA, 2002, which requires further inves ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... gister a case against a person for a 'schedule offence' and when the Enforcement Directorate comes to know of it, they can commence investigation under the PML Act by formally recording in the ECIR form about the nature of the 'schedule offence', as disclosed in the FIR registered by the police. A person cannot be convicted or acquitted based on the entries in the ECIR form, because, an offence under the PML Act has to be proved by examining witnesses and proving documents in order to establish that the accused had involved himself in a criminal activity, acquired assets and had projected the proceeds of the crime as untainted property. In this scheme of things, the ECIR document really has no significance. 18. Ergo, when the learned Special Public Prosecutor wanted to mark the copy of the ECIR form, the trial Court could have relied upon the judgment of the Supreme Court in Bipin Shantilal Panchal v. State of Gujarat and Another LNTND 2001 SC 509 : (2001) 3 SCC 1 : AIR 2001 SC 1158, and marked the document, subject, of course, to recording the objections raised by the defence, instead of disallowing the Special Public Prosecutor to mark it and thereby, bringing the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s collected by him. Likewise, an ECIR form is only an opinion of the Enforcement Officer based on the case registered for a 'schedule offence' that an investigation under the PML Act should be commenced. The melancholic part in our criminal justice system is that, we often find one blind leading another and the two finally ending up in a cul-de-sac. We desist from saying anything more. 23. Before bringing the curtains down, the following passage from the book Judges by David Pannick with reference to the American justice system is worth quoting. Inarticulate advocates, bigoted jurymen, careerist prosecutors and incompetent judges have been seen to inhabit a legal system that leaves much to be desired by way of efficiency and fairness. We fervently hope and trust that our criminal justice system is saved from the aforesaid perils that are said to plague the American system. 24. In view of the above discussion, the impugned order dated 19.12.2018 is set aside and the trial Court is directed to permit the prosecution to mark the copy of the ECIR form recording the objections of the defence as laid down by the Supreme Court in Bipin Shantilal Panchal v. State of Gujarat and Ano ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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