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TMI Blog2024 (7) TMI 1523X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g of the charge upon grave suspicion of commission of offence, and opined that if a Judge is fairly certain that there is no prospect of the case ending in conviction the valuable time of the Court should not be wasted for holding a trial only for the purpose of formally completing the procedure to the pronounce the conclusion on a future date. It further held that if a Judge is almost certain that the trial would be an exercise in futility or a sheer waste of time it is advisable to truncate the proceedings the stage of discharge under Section 227 of Cr.P.C. The petitioner is required to rebut the presumption under Section 24 of the Act, 2002, only if there is sufficient evidence or any specific allegation to establish that the petitioner knowingly assisted in concealing the proceeds of the crime or facilitated the use of such proceeds to project illicit proceeds as untainted property. In the case at hand, the petitioner's conduct exhibits neither indirect attempt to indulge, nor active involvement in any process connected with the proceeds of crime as to launder their illicit origin into untainted property. It is apposite to add, at the risk of repetition, that no prima facie ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tion of Krishna Kumar-accused No5, transferred the amount of Rs.46,62,500/- to various bank accounts belonging to accused No.5, and finally withdrawn the said amount and handed over to the father of accused No.5. 5. After investigation, it was concluded that, petitioner-accused No.17 along with accused No.5 had indirectly indulged, and actually involved in the process or connected with the proceeds of crime including its concealment, possession, acquisition or use of the proceeds of the crime. Thus, committed an offence under Section 3 r/w Section 70 of and Section 4 of PMLA. 6. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the investigation conducted by the respondent does not establish that the petitioner knowingly assisted in concealing or utilising the proceeds of the crime by projecting it as untainted money, and in the absence of essential elements to constitute the commission of offence under Section 3 read with Section 70 punishable under Section 4 of the PMLA Act, the prosecution of the petitioner for the aforesaid offences will be an abuse of process of legal process of law. 7. In support, he places reliance on the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s for consideration, it is pertinent to cite the governing provisions of the PMLA. 12. Section 3 of the Act deals with money laundering, and it states that whosoever directly or indirectly attempts to indulge or knowingly assist or knowingly is a party or is actually involved in any process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime, including its concealment, possession, acquisition, or use and projecting or claiming it as untainted property shall be guilty of the offence of money laundering. 13. Explanation: For removal of doubts, it is hereby clarified that, - i) a person shall be guilty of offence of money laundering if such person is found to have directly or indirectly attempted to indulged on knowingly assisted or knowingly is a party or is actually involved in one or more of the following processes or activities connected with proceeds of crime, namely,- a) concealment: or b) possession: or c) acquisition; or d) use; or e) projecting as untainted property; or f) claiming as untainted property in any manner whatsoever; ii) the process or activity connected with proceeds of crime is a continuing activity and continues till such time a person is directly or indirectly en ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... that the petitioner was prima facie directly involved in the activities connected with the proceeds of the crime and that sufficient material particulars had been narrated in the complaint to substantiate the allegations therein. Confining to the facts the case therein, it concluded that it would be a folly to hold that the knowledge of the accused that he was dealing with the proceeds of crime, would be a condition precedent or sine qua non required to shown by the prosecution for lodging the complaint under the said Act. Hence, apart from having knowledge, if a person who directly or indirectly attempted to indulge or was actually involved in the process or activity connected with the proceeds of the crime, was also guilty of the offence of money laundering. 13. Furthermore the coordinate bench of this Court in the case of Razorpay Software Pvt Ltd v. UoI (in WP 10329 / 2023 : DD 05.03.2024) had enunciated the essential elements of Section 3 of the Act, 2002 to constitute an offence and as the basis to initiate prosecution, as follows- I. Proceeds of crime - Involvement with the property derived from criminal activity. II. Directly or indirectly engaging - Participation in concea ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e proceeds of crime viz. acquisition and use of the proceeds of crime and is thus guilty of the offence of money laundering 19. It is pertinent to record that the prosecution has - a) Neither adduced any prima facie evidence to indicate that the petitioner- accused no.17 had knowledge of the fact that the funds transferred into his account had been derived from criminal activity related to the alleged scheduled offences of sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of IPC, 1860; b) Nor adduced any prima facie evidence to indicate that the petitioner - accused no.17 knowingly assisted the prime accused, the accused no. 5, in the concealment or transfer of the illicit proceeds so as to project them as untainted money. 20. Furthermore, it is to be borne that the petitioner herein is arrayed as accused no.17 in the complaint as made by the Asst. Director, Directorate of Enforcement, and that on perusal of the contents of the complaint (including the above extracted flowchart, which attributes to the prime accused no.5 his alleged role in the commission of the schedu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ima facie material whereby some nexus could be established to the alleged crime with a person. If such material is not available, (the) very registration of the case against such persons would definitely amount to the abuse of the process of law affecting (the) right of a citizen enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution of India. It further observed that, No person shall be allowed to undergo (the) ordeal of a criminal investigation unless there is some material which would connect the said person with the alleged crime. 24. The petitioner is required to rebut the presumption under Section 24 of the Act, 2002, only if there is sufficient evidence or any specific allegation to establish that the petitioner knowingly assisted in concealing the proceeds of the crime or facilitated the use of such proceeds to project illicit proceeds as untainted property. 25. In the case at hand, the petitioner's conduct exhibits neither indirect attempt to indulge, nor active involvement in any process connected with the proceeds of crime as to launder their illicit origin into untainted property. It is apposite to add, at the risk of repetition, that no prima facie evidence has been adduced b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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