9911796707
TMI Blog2024 (12) TMI 290X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ects that even after the acquittal, the ECIR records a case of money laundering in the hands of the appellant. To come out with the allegation of money laundering, the appellants were having opportunity to disclose the source for acquisition of the properties. The perusal of Section 8(1) of the Act of 2002 would reveal that Adjudicating Authority give notice to call upon the parties to disclose source for acquisition of the properties. In the PMLA investigation, it was revealed that cash was utilized for purchase of all the properties though deposited in the bank first but source to acquire the cash to deposit in the bank has not been disclosed - Perusal of account statement shows irregular cash deposits which do not match with profile of any kind of business activity. Further, he did not appear before the investigation and did not produce any evidence in respect of the source of this cash utilized for making cash deposits and for acquisition of properties. Hence, in view of the charge sheet filed by state police, it is logical to conclude that the cash utilized for acquisition of properties and for making deposits in the bank accounts of Ashok Yadav, are proceeds of crime. The ana ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Samastipur 07 kattha 11 dhoor Thana No. 362, Khata No. 149-Old, 490-new Khesra No. 1133- old, 2061-New 1,62,561/- 2. Bibha Devi W/o Ashok Yadav 1711 dt. 27.02.08. Rosera, Samastipur 06 kattha 11 dhoor, Thana No- 74/2 Khata No. 96, Khesra No. 34-old, 43-new, 32-old, 51-new 2,70,836/- 3. Bibha Devi W/o Ashok Yadav 9741 dt. 10.11.2009. Bithan, Rosera, Samastipur 12 katha 07 dhoor 54 Decmil Thana No. 343 Khata No. 165- old 553-new, 298- old, 897- new Khesra No. 1658 old, 3638- new, 3632-new, 2658- old 2680-old, 3634-new 3,48,521/- 4. Bibha Devi W/o Ashok Yadav 8943 dt. 08.11.2020 Bithan, Rosera, Samastipur 11 dhoor Thana No. 343 Khata No. 298-old, 897-new, Khesra No. 2658-old 2680- old, 3634 new 56546/- 5. Bibha Devi W/o Ashok Yadav 8942 dt. 08.11.2020 Bithan, Rosera, Samastipur 15 Dhoor (3.25 Decimal) Thana No.343, Khata No.- Survey-285,783,1247-new, Khesra No. 1660-old 3633- new 72771/- 6. Bibha Devi W/o Ashok Yadav 8944 dt. 08.11.2020 Bithan, Rosera, Samastipur 02 Ksttha, 14 Dhoor, Thana No.343, Khata No. 285-old, 783-old,1244-new, Khesra No. 1660-old 3633- new 2,65,361/- 7. Bibha Devi W/o Ashok Yadav 3340 dt. 20.03.2014 Bithan, Samastipur6 Ksttha, 4 Dhoor, Thana No.343, Khata No. 1 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... /- 21. Rajendra Yadav 6702 dt. 09.08.2008 Bithan, Samastipur Mauza Chechni, 01 Katttha, 04 Dhoor, (5.25 Dec.), Thana No.327, Khata No. 48-old, 72-new, Khesra No. 388- old, 576-new 27241/- 22. Rajendra Yadav 7207 dt. 25.08.2008 Bithan, Samastipur Mauza Chechni, 01 Katttha, 04 Dhoor, (5.25 Dec.), Thana No.327, Khata No. 48-old, 72-new, Khesra No. 388- old, 576-new 27241/- 23. Rajendra Yadav 8656 dt. 20.10.2008 Bithan, Samastipur Mauza Chechni, 01 Katttha, 10 Dhoor, Thana No.327, Khata No. 48-old, 72-new, Khesra No. 388-old, 576- new 32,661/- 24. Rajendra Yadav 8599 dt. 09.08.2012 Bithan, Samastipur Mauza Bithan, 06 Katttha, 15.75 Dhoor, Thana No.343, Khata No. 65-old, 238-old, 1266-new, Khesra No. 2599-old, 2598-old, 4732- new 3,05,346/- 25. Rajendra Yadav 8617 dt. 11.08.2012 Bithan, Rosera, Samastipur Mauza Chechni, 12 Katttha, 17 Dhoor, (56 Dec.), Thana No.327, Khata No. 155-new, Khesra No. 189-old, 254-new 2,42,706/- 26. Bibha Devi W/o Ashok Yadav 3126 dt. 10.02.2011 Rukanpura, Patna, 2100 Sq.ft, Thana No.18, Khata No.195, Khesra No.281 27,20,279/- Total 72,01,232/- B. Movable Property:- Available closing balance in the following bank accounts held in the name of Ashok Yadav and h ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... counsel for the appellants further admitted that ECIR was separately recorded and the cognizance of offence has been taken but the charges have not been framed till date. The ECIR recorded by the respondent would have no consequence on the main accused Ashok Yadav after his acquittal in majority of the cases. However, it was admitted by the counsel that the cognizance order has been challenged but we do not find any order favourable to the appellant thus, it is a fact that not only the ECIR remains but cognizance of offence has been taken against the appellant. 9. Further submission of the counsel for the appellants was that the reasons to believe was not served on the appellants thereby Section 8 of the Act of 2002 was not followed by the Adjudicating Authority for passing the order to confirm the Provisional Attachment Order. A reference of the judgment of the Delhi High Court in the case of J. Sekar Vs. Union of Inia reported in MANU/DE/0075/2018has been given. 10. The counsel for the appellants did not raise any other argument than referred above and accordingly the rival arguments were made by the respondent limited to the issue referred to above. 11. The counsel for the resp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t may serve a notice of not less than thirty days on such person calling upon him to indicate the sources of his income, earning or assets, out of which or by means of which he has acquired the property attached under sub-section (1) of section 5, or, seized [or frozen] under section 17 or section 18, the evidence on which he relies and other relevant information and particulars, and to show cause why all or any of such properties should not be declared to be the properties involved in money-laundering and confiscated by the Central Government: Provided that where a notice under this sub- section specifies any property as being held by a person on behalf of any other person, a copy of such notice shall also be served upon such other person: Provided further that where such property is held jointly by more than one person, such notice shall be served to all persons holding such property . 15. Section 8(1) provides issuance of notice to call upon the parties to disclose the source for acquisition of the properties under attachment. The appellants were thus required to disclose source for acquisition of the properties. The appellant Ashok Yadav submitted that he was having retail busi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ever, during the same period, Rs 1,69,000/- was deposited in the bank account no. 01190011624 (SBI Rosera) of Ashok Yadav. 20. From perusal of statement of SBI bank account no. 11461408694 for the financial year 2008-09, it was found that a total of Rs. 5,80,000/- was deposited in this account whereas during the said period net income shown in his IT Return is Rs. 1,91,761/- only. Further, perusal of statement of SBI bank account no. 11461408694 for the financial year 2009-10 reveals that a total of Rs. 10,00,000/- was deposited in this account, whereas during the said period net income shown in his IT Return is Rs. 2,06,300/-only. 21. Perusal of the account statement of Ashok Kumar Yadav, it has been revealed that a total of Rs. 26,34,600/- have been deposited in his three bank accounts and also during the same period he purchased immovable property worth 1,62,561/- whereas, the income declared in the ITR during the relevant period is much less. Perusal of account statement shows irregular cash deposits which do not match with profile of any kind of business activity. Further, he did not appear before the investigation and did not produce any evidence in respect of the source of t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... been filed for the F.Y. 2010-11. This, in light of irregular pattern of deposits and the fact that she has deliberately avoided the summons, leads to the conclusion that Bibha Devi is in possession of proceeds of crime generated by her husband Ashok Yadav. It is further revealed that a sum of Rs. 22,72,000/- has been deposited through transfer/ cheque from various bank accounts. Accordingly, inquiry was caused with the concerned bank which forwarded the details as under: S. No. Transaction Date Amount Credited (In Rs.) Cheque No./ Thr. Transfer Debited Account No. and Account holder Remarks 1. 09.05.2011 72,000 TRF 3092198 1629 of Shri Jitendra Kumar Shri Jitendra Kumar submitted in his statement under Section 50 of PMLA that he took cash of Rs. 72,000/- from Bibha Devi and issued cheque for the same amount. 2. 13.09.2012 3,00,000 473896 1189295 6659 of Shri Kishan Lal Sharaf Shri Kishan Lal Sharaf submitted in his statement under Section 50 of PMLA that Rs. 3 lakh cash was given to him by Bibha Devi and the same is also corroborated from the bank statement. 3. 08.01.2013 1,00,000 771961 1183016 9018 Shri Chandra Deo Prasad 4. 15.01.2013 5,00,000 725029 1189295 2043 of Shri Sunil Y ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 0/- in her bank account and she took cheque of equivalent amount from him for depositing in her account. Shri Pramod Kumar in his statement recorded on 22.07.2014 refers to the same modus operandi by which a sum of Rs.5,00,000/- was routed to ultimately transfer it in the account of Bibha Devi. 29. From the above, it is gathered that Bibha Devi had given cash to many persons who in turn issued cheques in her favour of equal amount. The modus operandi of Bibha Devi to deposit the cash in the account of named persons and got transfer of the amount or otherwise deposited directly in her account was just to make it through the banking channel to purchase the properties. It may have been disclosed as income in her ITRs for assessment as per the provisions of the Act of 1961 which contain different provision and even the object and the Act of 1961 is different than the Act of 2002. We find that even the ITRs of the Bibha Devi were also scrutinized by the Adjudicating Authority for showing her total income of Rs. 29,01,938/- from the year 2006-07 till 2013-14 while she had acquired the property of greater amount and furthermore income was shown by routing the amount through the persons wh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 94is held in the name of Ashok Kumar Yadav. perusal of account statement of account no. 011461408694, revealed that a sum of Rs. 10,00,000/- in cash was deposited by Bibha Devi on 18.11.2009 and on the same day a sum of Rs. 12,00,000/- was transferred to the bank account No. 30958895103 of Bibha Devi ostensibly, to facilitate her to get dealership of LPG from BPCL. The sequence of events leading to establishment of M/s Sapna Bharat Gas Gramin Vitrak, Bithan, Distt.-Samastipur, Bihar having Bibha Devi as its proprietor is, thus, as under: (i) 10.11.2009: Purchase of land vide sale deed No. 9741 dated 10.11.2009 (ii) 16.11.2009: Opening of bank account No. 30958895103 at State Bank of India, Bithan in the name of Bibha Devi (iii) 18.11.2009: Deposit of Rs. 10,00,000/- in cash by Bibha Devi in her husband's (Ashok Kumar Yadav) bank account No. 011461408694 at State Bank of India, Rosara, (iv) 18.11.2009: Transfer of Rs. 12,00,000/- by Ashok Yadav from his bank account No. 011461408694 at State Bank of India. Rosara to his wife's (Smt. Bibha Devi) bank account No. 30958895103 at State Bank of India, Bithan. (v) 20.11.2009: Submission of application to BPCL (vi) 19.11.2010: Appo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Shri Ajit Kumar Yadav, S/o Shri Mahendra Yadav was recorded under Section 50 of the PMLA on 11.09.2014 wherein he inter alia stated that: Bibha Devi put his name for the lottery in the Excise Department to get the contract of liquor shops and did all the documentary work relating to lottery of the Excise Department. His name came out in the lottery for Group No. 12 which consisted of three liquor shops out of which Shop No. 81 located at Narhan, Samastipur and Shop No. 42 located at Bambaiya Ujnail, Samastipur were Composite Shops (where country liquor as well as India Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) are sold) and the third Shop No. 04 was located at Gudri Bazar, Dalsinghsarai, Samastipur where only country liquor was sold. He further stated that all the expenses pertaining to allotment of said three liquor shops were borne by Bibha Devi. *All the formalities were completed by *Bibha Devi Rs. 4,68,100/- was also paid in cash by her as Reserved Fee to the Govt. of Bihar. *Bibha Devi is the actual owner of the shops. *He also stated that as per the said register, stock of liquor collectively valued at Rs. 39,87,180/- was purchased for the liquor shop No. 81 after depositing 83 Demand Draf ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
