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TMI Blog2024 (4) TMI 1205X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ash seizures and jewelleries from the two flats do not at this stage create any circumstance in favour of the petitioner to overcome the twin conditions under Section 45 of PMLA. On the aspect of period of detention of the petitioner, it has been held in Manish Sisodia vs.-Central Bureau of Investigation, [ 2023 (11) TMI 63 - SUPREME COURT ] and in Satyendar Kumar Jain [ 2024 (3) TMI 862 - SUPREME COURT ] that right to speedy trial and access to justice is a valuable right as enshrined in the Constitution of India and the provisions of section 436A of the Cr.P.C. both applies to cases under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002 subject to the provisions and the explanations provided therein. The petitioner would definitely be entitled to involve state right under the relevant provisions when the conditions of the said provisions are satisfied. The petitioner cannot be enlarged on bail at this stage. Accordingly, the prayer for bail of the present petitioner is rejected - bail application dismissed. - THE HON BLE JUSTICE TIRTHANKAR GHOSH For the Petitioner : Mr. Sandipan Ganguly Mr. Ayan Poddar Ms. Manaswita Mukherjee Mr. Soham Dutt Mr. Soumen Paul. For the E.D. : Mr. Phiroze Edulji Ms ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... izures were conducted at various places/premises. The searches conducted at the residential premises of Ms. Arpita Mukherjee situated at Tower-2, Flat No-1, Diamond City South, 58, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Karunamoyi, Tollygunge, Kolkata-700041, led to the seizure of cash amounting to Rs. 21.90 crores and gold jewellery worth 76,97,100/-Further, on the basis of the interrogation of the accused Ms. Arpita Mukherjee and scrutiny of the documents, a search dated 27/28.07.2022 was conducted which led to a further recovery and seizure of a huge and unprecedented cash amount of Rs. 27.90 crores and gold valued at Rs. 4.31 crores from the premises of Ms. Arpita Mukherjee situated at Flat-8A, Block-5, Club town heights, 14 B.T Road, Belghoria, Kolkata. It was also noticed that a company closely linked with the family members of the accused i.e. Shri Partha Chatterjee is registered at this very premises, from where the haul of huge cash of Rs. 27.90 crores and gold amounting to Rs. 4.31 crores have been seized. The aforesaid searches led to seizure of incriminating documents pertaining to this case. The search conducted at the residential premises of Shri. Partha Chatterjee led to the seizure o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e crores And Ninety Lakhs only) 3. Indian Currency recovered and seized from the premises of Ms. Arpita Mukherjee, Club Town Heights, 14 B.T. Road, Block 5, Flat, Kolkata on 27/28.07.2022 27,90,00,000/- (Twenty-Seven crores And Ninety Lakhs only) 4. Gold Jewellery and other precious metal items recovered and seized from the premises of Ms. Arpita Mukherjee, Club Town Heights, 14 B.T. Road, Block 5, Flat, Kolkata on 27/28.07.2022 4,31,79,300/- (Four Crores Thirty-One Lakhs Seventy-Nine Thousand and Three Hundred only) 5. One Rado Wrist watch seized from the premises of Ms. Arpita Mukherjee, Club Town Heights, 14 B.T. Road, Block 5, Flat, Kolkata on 27/28.07.2022 Total 54,88,76,400/- The details Foreign Currency recovered and seized from the premises of Ms. Arpita Mukherjee at Diamond City South, Tower-2, Flat-1, 58, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Tollygunge, Karunamoyee, Kolkata- 700041 on 22/23.07.2022. Sl. No Description of Foreign Currency Denomination No. of Currency Notes 1. Nepal Rashtra Bank (Rupee) 1000 01 2. Nepal Rashtra Bank (Rupee) 100 07 3. Nepal Rashtra Bank (Rupee) 50 01 4. Nepal Rashtra Bank (Rupee) 20 03 5. Nepal Rashtra Bank (Rupee) 10 03 6. Thailand (Baht) 20 09 7. Thailand ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e in this regard. As discussed in above paras, Shri Partha Chatterjee used his influence and power to subdue people by directing them to arrange for dummy directors and proxies for companies/firms controlled by him. That he purchased a number of properties through these companies and Ms. Arpita Mukherjee. Investigation conducted under PMLA has revealed that he provided a huge cash sum of around Rs. 15 cores for constructing a school in the name of his Late wife Smt. Babli Chatterjee. That he used proxies for buying such land and managing construction thereon using cash amount through his son-in-law Shri Kalyanmoy Bhattacharya. Investigation conducted under PMLA has revealed that he acquired huge cash through criminal activities and concealed it in the premises in the name of Ms. Arpita Mukherjee out of which Rs. 49.8 crores subsequently recovered seized from the two premises situated at Club Town Heights, Kolkata and Diamond City South, Kolkata. Investigation conducted under PMLA has revealed that Shri Partha Chatterjee was found using mobile no. 8910649614 which is in the name of one Ms. Jyoti Khandelwal. That he used this particular no. for making all his communication with his a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... assistance and involvement of other accused persons and entities. Thus, the accused person has committed the offence of Money Laundering as defined under section 3 of PMLA and is, therefore, liable to be punished under section 4 of PMLA, 2002. Aforesaid acts committed by accused person are covered by the definition of offence of money-laundering. In addition to that, Explanation to Section 3 of PMLA also provides that the process or activity connected with proceeds of crime is a continuing activity and continues till such time a person is directly or indirectly enjoying the proceeds of crime by its concealment or possession or acquisition or use or projecting it as untainted property or claiming it as untainted property in any manner whatsoever . As revealed from the facts of the case, accused person continued to be involved in processes and activities connected with said proceeds of crime and continued to be in possession and use of the said proceeds of crime obtained or derived by him. In view of the facts and aforesaid legal explanation, it is noticed that accused person continued to commit offence of money laundering as per Section 3 of PMLA and therefore liable to be punished ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , 2002. In addition to that, Explanation to Section 3 of PMLA also provides that the process or activity connected with proceeds of crime is a continuing activity and continues till such time a person is directly or indirectly enjoying the proceeds of crime by its concealment or possession or acquisition or use or projecting it as untainted property or claiming it as untainted property in any manner whatsoever . As revealed from the facts of the case, it continued to be involved in processes and activities connected with said proceeds of crime and continued to be holding and projecting the said proceeds of crime as untainted money. In view of the facts and aforesaid legal explanation, it is noticed that it continued to commit offence of money laundering as per Section 3 of PMLA and therefore liable to be punished under Section 4 of PMLA for such continuing activity. 5. M/s Symbiosis Merchants Pvt. Ltd. (A-5) This is a company controlled by Shri Partha Chatterjee and is used for the purpose of laundering the funds generated through the criminal activities and subsequently purchasing immovable properties in the name of company by way of siphoning of the funds. Dummy directors were ma ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... or claiming it as untainted property in any manner whatsoever . As revealed from the facts of the case, it continued to be involved in processes and activities connected with said proceeds of crime and continued to be holding and projecting the said proceeds of crime as untainted money. In view of the facts and aforesaid legal explanation, it is noticed that it continued to commit offence of money laundering as per Section 3 of PMLA and therefore liable to be punished under Section 4 of PMLA for such continuing activity. 7. M/s Viewmore Highrise Pvt. Ltd. (A-7) This is a company controlled by Shri Partha Chatterjee and is used for the purpose of laundering the funds generated through the criminal activities and subsequently purchasing immovable properties in the name of company by way of siphoning of the funds. Dummy directors were made in this company and there was no business activities in this company. This corporate entity was solely used in the acquisition, use, possession, and concealment of proceeds of crime with the assistance of other accused persons and entities. Thus, it has committed the offence of Money Laundering as defined under section 3 read with section 70 of PML ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... o commit offence of money laundering as per Section 3 of PMLA and therefore liable to be punished under Section 4 of PMLA for such continuing activity. Mr. Sandipan Ganguly, learned Senior Advocate appearing on behalf of the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is in custody for about one year nine months, he is aged about 72 years and is suffering from multiple diseases including the Type II Diabetes, chronic kidney disease, hypertension, hypothyroidism, osteoarthritis, prostatomegaly, dyslipidemia etc. along with swelling of both feet. Learned senior advocate submits that the petitioner was not named in the first R.C. Case No.6 dated 09.06.2022, nor has he been made an accused in the supplementary charge-sheet filed in connection with the said case. ECIR has also not named the petitioner as accused. It has been contended that the present ECIR which arises out of the FIR of R.C. Case No.6 relates to incidents which took place subsequent to 23.12.2020 when the notification for recruitment of primary teachers were published and the cogent materials against the petitioner are of the year 2012, and do not relate to the period between 2014 to 2021. The notification for recruitment ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ner has nothing to do with the same. The finding of the prosecution that the relationship or the proximity of the petitioner and co-accused Ms. Arpita Mukherjee cannot impose a penal liability and the same would be forfeited by drawing a conclusion. The documents relied upon by the prosecution are to create a relationship which includes the letter dated 28.7.2022 for adopting the child, the LIC policies of Arpita Mukherjee, which were seized and the name of the petitioner appeared to be as a nominee in the capacity as an uncle/others and the statement of Snehamoy Dutta, wherein he stated that the petitioner has purportedly directed him to take care of Aripta Mukherjee when they travelled to Thailand and Goa together. Thus, according to the ld. Senior advocate without any substance it cannot be a cause of implicating the petitioner in an offence under the PMLA. It is also argued that a Diary of the Department of School Education, Department of High Education, Government of West Bengal which have been relied upon by the prosecution do not indicate any generation of proceeds of crime and the envelope which was also seized printed as Minister-in-Charge, Department of Higher Education, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... documentary evidence. So far as the issue relating to creation of shell-companies of the petitioner, except the statement of Manoj Kathotia and Kamal Singh Bhutoria, there are nothing on record to show that the oral statements and/or assertions can be relied upon. Learned senior advocate for the petitioner has also referred to the statement of other witnesses so relied upon by the Enforcement Directorate and submitted that if the statement of the said persons are accepted to be true, they are also to be impleaded in the instant case and cannot be exonerated from the charges under the PMLA. Lastly, learned senior advocate submitted that having regard to the period of detention of the present petitioner which is almost one year nine months and the prosecution has relied upon 183 witnesses and 442 documents to prove its case when the charges are yet to be framed and there is no scope of the trial commencing soon, the petitioner should be released on bail as further custodial detention would amount to pre-trial conviction. In order to substantiate his argument, Mr. Ganguly, learned senior advocate has relied upon a series of judgements. With reference to the period of custody which ha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ay by this Court only after six months from the date of order of the High Court but, what to say of conclusion, the trial is practically at the very initial stage with even the statement of the first prosecution witness remaining incomplete. Looking to the nature of case and the witnesses to be examined, the trial and is bound to take time. On the other hand, the appellant is said to be in custody since 27.11.2019. 13. In view of above, this appeal is allowed in the manner that while setting aside the impugned order dated 25.11.2020, the appellant is ordered to be released on bail on such terms and conditions as deemed fit and necessary by the Trial Court, which shall include the conditions that the appellant will not attempt to alienate any of his properties without permission of the Trial Court and will render all cooperation in expeditious proceedings of the trial. On the issue relating to the statement of an accused in custody and using the same as evidence against another co-accused it was emphasized by the learned senior advocate that the same is the weakest piece of evidence and to that effect reliance was placed on Surinder Kumar Khanna vs- Directorate of Revenue Intelligen ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... awn to paragraphs 9 to 14 of the said judgement which are as follows:- 9. In this backdrop this Court has applied the tripod test to the facts to determine whether continued detention of the petitioner is justified. 10. Firstly, we note petitioner is a superannuated individual. He is a septuagenarian and is suffering from frail health. He has strong roots in society. During investigation he responded to the summons issued by the Investigating Agency and was interrogated till the agency considered his custodial interrogation imperative for progress of investigation. These facts lead to the irresistible conclusion that there is no chance of abscondence or evasion of the process of law by the petitioner. 11. Second comes the issue of commission of similar offences. Allegations involve abuse of the official position which the petitioner no longer holds. Accordingly, it is out of question that the petitioner would be in a position to commit similar offences. 12. Third relates to interference with investigation by intimidating witnesses and/or tampering evidence. Investigation in the present case has continued for more than a year. It centers around alleged fake appointment/recommendatio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the circumstances to consider the gravity of the offence is also the term of sentence that is prescribed for the offence the accused is alleged to have committed. Such consideration with regard to the gravity of offence is a factor which is in addition to the triple test or the tripod test that would be normally applied. In that regard what is also to be kept in perspective is that even if the allegation is one of grave economic offence, it is not a rule that bail should be denied in every case since there is no such bar created in the relevant enactment passed by the legislature nor does the bail jurisprudence provide so. Therefore, the underlining conclusion is that irrespective of the nature and gravity of charge, the precedent of another case alone will not be the basis for either grant or refusal of bail though it may have a bearing on principle. But ultimately the consideration will have to be on case-to-case basis on the facts involved therein and securing the presence of the accused to stand trial. 30. Further, it is noticed that one of the co-accused has been granted bail by the High Court while the other co-accused is enjoying interim protection from arrest. The appellant ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... plicant. Initially a good luck amount of Rs. 40 Lakhs was paid by the bar owners namely Mahesh Shetty and Jaya Poojari. Only after the collections in the months of January and February, 2021, he had given the cash, so collected, to the Applicant through Mr. Shinde, the co-accused. The first installment was in the last week of January 2021, of about 1.70 Crores. Mr. Shinde had called him near Sahyadri Guest House and the bags containing cash were transferred from the car of Mr. Waze to that of Mr. Shinde. The second was of Rs. 3 Crores which were again handed over, after Mr. Shinde called him near Raj Bhavan signal square. 79. In the aforesaid view of the matter, the credibility of accusation entirely hinges on the statements of Mr. Sachin Waze, the co-accused, on both the points, as to at whose instance the money was collected and to whom the money, so collected, was allegedly delivered. The latter aspect, it appears, solely rests on the claim of Mr. Sachin Waze. 80. During the course of the submissions, on instructions, the Court was informed that Mr. Sachin Waze has been declared an approver by the CBI in the predicate offences, and in instant case also, an application has been p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... endeavoured to resist the prayer on the count that the Application is not preferred on medical grounds. I am afraid, it may not be proper to construe the first proviso to Section 45 in such a constricted way. The proviso can be taken into account even when the Court is considering the Application for bail on merits and not necessarily only when the accused seeks bail on the grounds mentioned in the proviso. 93. In the case at hand, pursuant to the directions of the Court, the Chief Medical Officer, Mumbai Central Prison, Mumbai submitted a report on 8th July, 2022 wherein the Applicant was diagnosed to be suffering from: Irritable Bowel with accelerated hypertension I known case of ischemic heart disease with bradycardia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hyperlipidaemia, psoriasis, insomnia, recurrent bilateral shoulder dislocation and right lower limb radiculopathy. 96. The material on record does indicate that the Applicant has been suffering from multiple ailments. He is 73 years of age. Few of the ailments may classified as de-generative. The medical reports/certificates also show that the Applicant is suffering from chronic ailments, as well. In the light of the material ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 45(1) as elucidated in the dicta of Gautam Kundu case [Gautam Kundu v. Directorate of Enforcement, (2015) 16 SCC 1 : (2016) 3 SCC (Cri) 603]. 58. Once the Applicant falls in the exception clause of section 45(1) proviso, as in the present case by virtue being infirm , the Applicant need not satisfy the twin test of section 45(1) PMLA. However, the Applicant needs to satisfy the triple test under Section 437/439 CrPC: i. Flight risk. ii. Influencing any witness. iii. Tampering with evidence. 59. In the present case, the Applicant has been in custody for over 18 months. Investigation qua the Applicant is complete but no chargesheet has been filed yet. The Applicant was released on interim bail for a period of one month and after expiry of the same, he surrendered and there is no allegation of misuse of liberty by him while on bail. 60. In view of the above observations, the Applicant is entitled to grant of bail. Reliance was also placed upon Chandra Prakash Khandelwal Vs. Directorate of Enforcement reported in 2023 SCC OnLine Del 1094 for emphasizing on the issue relating to the delay caused in trial or where trial is at the infant stage, bail should be granted by the Court. To tha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... change of address if any to the Investigating Officer; the applicant shall furnish to the Investigating Officer a cell phone number on which the applicant may be contacted at any reasonable time and shall ensure the number is kept active; the applicant shall cooperate in any further investigation, as and when required; the applicant shall not, directly or indirectly, contact or visit or offer any inducement, threat or promise to any of the prosecution witnesses or other persons acquainted with the facts of the case and; the applicants shall not tamper with evidence nor try to prejudice the proceedings in the matter in any manner. Learned senior advocate after addressing the Court on several issues which touched the merits of the case, delay in trial of the case, medical grounds, age of the petitioner and complicity of the present petitioner prays that the totality of the circumstances at this stage, after one year nine months, do make out a case for releasing the petitioner on bail as prima facie the petitioner has satisfied the conditions both under Article 21 of the Constitution of India as well as under Section 45 of the PMLA. Rebutting the contentions of the learned senior advo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... loor, Block-5, Clubtown Heights, 14 B.T. Road, Belghoria, Kolkata700056. It is to state that I have not made true disclosure due to fear of my personal security and that of my mother but now I want to disclose the true facts. It is to state that the real ownership of seized cash amounting to Rs.49.80 crores and gold/jewellery valued at more than five crores from the premises situated at Flat No.1A, 1st Floor, Diamond South City, Kolkata and Flat No.8A, 8th floor, Block-5, Clubtown Heights, 14 B.T. Road, Belghoria, Kolkata-700056 can only be explained by Sir Shri Partha Chatterjee as the seized cash and gold/jewellery belongs to him. It has been strenuously argued that the petitioner was a Cabinet Minister and an influential person who has amassed and acquired huge amount of assets which has been concealed and layered by various means, the said movable and immovable assets are proceeds of crime which was obtained by withholding the office enjoyed by the petitioner in connection with the recruitment of the primary teachers recruitment scam. According to the Enforcement Directorate, petitioner under no circumstances has been able to overcome the twin conditions under Section 45 of PML ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Enforcement, (2015) 16 SCC 1 : (2016) 3 SCC (Cri) 603] , this Court has had an occasion to examine it in paras 28-30. It will be useful to advert to paras 28 to 30 of this decision which read thus : (SCC pp. 14-15) 28. Before dealing with the application for bail on merit, it is to be considered whether the provisions of Section 45 of PMLA are binding on the High Court while considering the application for bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. There is no doubt that PMLA deals with the offence of money laundering and Parliament has enacted this law as per commitment of the country to the United Nations General Assembly. PMLA is a special statute enacted by Parliament for dealing with money laundering. Section 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 clearly lays down that the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure will not affect any special statute or any local law. In other words, the provisions of any special statute will prevail over the general provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure in case of any conflict. 29. Section 45 of PMLA starts with a non obstante clause which indicates that the provisions laid down in Section 45 of PMLA will have over ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... infirm. Therefore, there is no doubt that the conditions laid down under Section 45-A of PMLA, would bind the High Court as the provisions of special law having overriding effect on the provisions of Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for grant of bail to any person accused of committing offence punishable under Section 4 of PMLA, even when the application for bail is considered under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The decisions of this Court in Subrata Chattoraj v. Union of India [Subrata Chattoraj v. Union of India, (2014) 8 SCC 768 : (2014) 6 SCC (Cri) 116] , Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy v. CBI [Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy v. CBI, (2013) 7 SCC 439 : (2013) 3 SCC (Cri) 552] and Union of India v. Hassan Ali Khan [Union of India v. Hassan Ali Khan, (2011) 10 SCC 235 : (2012) 1 SCC (Cri) 256] have been noticed in the aforesaid decision. 21. The consistent view taken by this Court is that economic offences having deep-rooted conspiracies and involving huge loss of public funds need to be viewed seriously and considered as grave offences affecting the economy of the country as a whole and thereby posing serious threat to the financial health of the country. Further, wh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ature. Section 21(4) of MCOCA, therefore, must be construed reasonably. It must be so construed that the court is able to maintain a delicate balance between a judgment of acquittal and conviction and an order granting bail much before commencement of trial. Similarly, the court will be required to record a finding as to the possibility of his committing a crime after grant of bail. However, such an offence in futuro must be an offence under the Act and not any other offence. Since it is difficult to predict the future conduct of an accused, the court must necessarily consider this aspect of the matter having regard to the antecedents of the accused, his propensities and the nature and manner in which he is alleged to have committed the offence. 45. It is, furthermore, trite that for the purpose of considering an application for grant of bail, although detailed reasons are not necessary to be assigned, the order granting bail must demonstrate application of mind at least in serious cases as to why the applicant has been granted or denied the privilege of bail. 46. The duty of the court at this stage is not to weigh the evidence meticulously but to arrive at a finding on the basis o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ion of witnesses being tampered with; the larger interest of the public or the State and other similar factors which may be relevant in the facts and circumstances of the case. 20. In the present case, accused Anil Kumar Yadav was granted bail by the Sessions Court mainly on the grounds : (i) as per CCTV footage deciphered by the investigating officer, no role could be attributed to Anil Kumar Yadav that he inflicted injuries on Rohit Bansal as well as to deceased Rupesh Tanwar and the photographs do not show the presence of the accused Anil Kumar Yadav; (ii) CCTV footage do not corroborate the statement of the witnesses that the accused along with their cars were blocking the road; and (iii) accused Anil Kumar Yadav has been in custody since 31-10-2015. The Sessions Court pointed out that possibly no role could be attributed to accused Anil Kumar Yadav and observed as under: Admittedly, the crux of the CCTV footage is deciphered by the IO in the charge-sheet as mentioned above and in the said crux no role of accused Anil Kumar Yadav is found. Furthermore, there are other discrepancies pointed out by the counsel as discussed above which though could not be considered for the purpos ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aph 3, Mercedes is seen at the spot at 1 : 34 : 49. In Photograph 5 the respondent is seen entering the Mercedes at 1 : 38 : 29. It belies the respondent's contention that the Mercedes entered for the first time in the lane of the occurrence only at 1 : 37 : 56. In photos Mark A and B the respondent's car is seen at the spot at 1 : 30 : 41 and 1 : 31 : 50 too. 23. The High Court had gone into the details of CCTV footage and noted the presence of accused Anil Kumar Yadav at the scene of occurrence that he was seen entering into the Mercedes . The Sessions Court was not right in raising doubts about the presence of accused Anil Kumar Yadav and his role in inflicting injuries to deceased Rupesh Tanwar as well as to the injured Rohit Bansal at the present stage. Since the Sessions Court proceeded to grant bail on erroneous footing and also going into the merits of the materials collected, the High Court, in our view, rightly set aside the order granting bail to the accused Anil Kumar Yadav. 24. As pointed out earlier, one of the grounds for grant of bail to the appellant Anil Kumar Yadav by the Sessions Court was that he was in custody for more than one year. In crimes like mur ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... herefore, tainted shifted on the accused persons under Section 24 of the PML Act, 2002. The same proposition of law is reiterated and followed by the Orissa High Court in the unreported decision of Janata Jha v. Directorate of Enforcement [Janata Jha v. Directorate of Enforcement, Criminal Misc. Case No. 114 of 2011, decided on 16-12-2013 (Ori)] . Therefore, taking into account all these propositions of law, we feel that the application for bail of the appellant should be seen at this stage while the appellant is involved in the economic offence, in general, and for the offence punishable under Section 4 of PMLA, in particular. In order to emphasise on the issues relating to twin conditions reliance was placed to paragraphs 44 to 46 of Ranjitsing Brahmajeetsing Sharma v. State of Maharashtra (2005) 5 SCC 294 which read as follows: 44. The wording of Section 21(4), in our opinion, does not lead to the conclusion that the court must arrive at a positive finding that the applicant for bail has not committed an offence under the Act. If such a construction is placed, the court intending to grant bail must arrive at a finding that the applicant has not committed such an offence. In such ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... is obvious. Acts of corruption by public servants not only affect the immediate victims but cause severe dent on the faith and confidence of society in fair and impartial public administration. 13. Judged from such perspective, mere attendance during the course of investigation or severity of punishment cannot be the sole criteria for consideration of a bail prayer in the present factual matrix. Other weighty parameters like gravity of offence involving institutionalized corruption in matters of public employment need to be taken into consideration. Impact of the crime on society and the fate of innumerable victims viz., aspiring candidates in particular and students of the Government and Government aided school in general who stand deprived of quality education due to wrongful appointment also requires to be borne in mind. Reference was also made to the judgment reported in 2023 SCC Online Cal 23 (Anubrata Mondal vs- CBI)]. The attention is drawn to paragraphs 7 to 10 of the said judgment, which is as follows: 7. Grant of bail to an undertrial requires a fine balance between the right to liberty and presumption of innocence of an accused on one hand and public interest in the disc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... also to be kept in view, while consideration for bail is made. Ld. Advocate for the Directorate of Enforcement has also relied upon the authoritative pronouncements and interpretations in respect of the judgment of the Hon ble Supreme Court reported in [2022 SCC OnLine SC 929 Vijay Madanlal Choudhary Ors. vs.- Union of India Ors.]. Reference was also made to the judgment reported in [(2023) SCC OnLine SC 934 (V. Senthil Balaji V. State, represented by Deputy Director and others] to emphasize on the issues relating to bail in economic offences, right of the accused under section 21 of the Constitution of India and on the proposition that mere delay having no effect without the provision under Section 45 of the PMLA is satisfied. I have taken into account the materials available in the instant case, particularly, the seizures, which were effected both in respect of the movable and immoveable assets, the consistent version of the witnesses under section 50 of the PMLA as well as the corroborating materials which establishes the relationship between Partha Chatterjee and Aripta Mukherjee, which demonstrates trust, faith and confidence from both the sides, as the petitioner is the nomi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... efore the Adjudicating Authority. It is a different matter that the information and evidence so collated during the inquiry made, may disclose commission of offence of money-laundering and the involvement of the person, who has been summoned for making disclosures pursuant to the summons issued by the Authority. At this stage, there would be no formal document indicative of likelihood of involvement of such person as an accused of offence of money-laundering. If the statement made by him reveals the offence of money-laundering or the existence of proceeds of crime, that becomes actionable under the Act itself. To put it differently, at the stage of recording of statement for the purpose of inquiring into the relevant facts in connection with the property being proceeds of crime is, in that sense, not an investigation for prosecution as such; and in any case, there would be no formal accusation against the noticee. Such summons can be issued even to witnesses in the inquiry so conducted by the authorised officials. However, after further inquiry on the basis of other material and evidence, the involvement of such person (noticee) is revealed, the authorised officials can certainly p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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