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TMI Blog2025 (1) TMI 150X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he applicants in commission of offence under Section 7, 7A 12 of the PC Act, is prima facie reflected. Hon ble the Supreme Court while considering the gravity of economic offence in case of P. CHIDAMBARAM VERSUS DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT [ 2019 (9) TMI 286 - SUPREME COURT ] has held that ' Grant of anticipatory bail at the stage of investigation may frustrate the investigating agency in interrogating the accused and in collecting the useful information and also the materials which might have been concealed. Success in such interrogation would elude if the accused knows that he is protected by the order of the court. Grant of anticipatory bail, particularly in economic offences would definitely hamper the effective investigation. ' The prosecution has collected sufficient material to demonstrate that the applicants have active participation in the syndicate which has collected illegal money as per the directions of the main accused Suryakant Tiwari by extorting money which has also been utilized for purchase of properties by the accused persons and in the bail petition, they have contended that they are falsely implicated in the crime by taking the stand which is required t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... spectively in connection with Crime No. 03/2024 registered at Police Station-Anti-Corruption Bureau/ Economic Offence Wing Chhattisgarh, Raipur, District-Raipur (C.G.) for the offence punishable under Sections 420, 120-B, 384 of IPC and Section 7, 7-A, 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. 3. The case of the prosecution in brief is that on 11.01.2024, one Mr. Sandeep Ahuja, Deputy Director, Directorate of Enforcement, Raipur through Mr. Farhan Qureshi, Deputy Superintendent of Police lodged a complaint before the Director General of Police Anti-Corruption Bureau Economic Offences Wing, Chhattisgarh pertaining to predicate offence discovered during the money laundering in investigation File No. ECIR/RPZO/09/2022 was done under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (for short the PMLA ). Thereafter, an offence bearing FIR No. 03/2024 has been registered on 17.01.2024 at Police Station ACB/EOW Raipur (C.G.) against 35 accused persons namely Smt. Saumya Chaurasiya, Sameer Bisnoi, Smt. Ranu Sahu, Sandeep Kumar Nayak (MCRC No. 7210/2024), Shivshankar Nag (MCRC No. 6490/2024), Suryakant Tiwari, Manish Upadhyay, Roshan Kumar Singh (MCRC No. 7041/2024), Nikhi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e amount of money was transferred to Saumya Chaurasia, spent on political funding and transferred as per the instructions of higher powers. The Enforcement Directorate investigation further established that Smt. Ranu Sahu had aided and abetted Suryakant Tiwari in collection of illegal levy amounts from the coal transporters. Smt. Ranu Sahu was in touch through WhatsApp with Roshan Singh, associate of Suryakant Tiwari. The WhatsApp chats happened between Smt. Ranu Sahu and Roshan Singh, close associate of Suryakant Tiwari, revealed that Roshan Singh was in regular touch with Ranu Sahu and she agreed to do work as asked by Roshan Singh. The investigation carried out by the Enforcement Directorate further revealed that the government servants like Smt. Saumya Chaurasia, Shri Sameer Vishnoi lAS and Smt. Ranu Sahu, State Mining Officers etc had received kickbacks from Suryakant Tiwari and acquired benami properties disproportionate to their source of income. The details of property so attached are given in the table format as under:- Sr.No. Name of the Public Servant No. of properties attached under PMLA Value of attached properties 1. Sameer Vishnoi Five Immovable property and cash jew ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aid illegal money of Rs. 2 per tonne to the applicant. He used to provide support to Suryakant Tiwari's syndicate for this illegal levy collection. 9. During investigation, it has been found that the applicant -Shiv Shankar Naag has neither conducted a preliminary investigation of the anonymous complaint received by him nor did he obtain approval from the then Korba Collector before sending the said complaint to the Director of Mining, Raipur and sent it to the Director of Mining Directorate for appropriate action. It is also the case of the prosecution during further investigation, the document received from the Income Tax Department includes a handwritten document of Suryakant Tiwari recovered from Flat No. 301 VIP Karishma Block D-2 Khamhardi Raipur, during the survey proceedings conducted by the Income Tax Department on 30.06.2022 at the residence and office of Suryakant Tiwari and others, it is found that transit pass of coal delivery order (DO) should be done manually instead of online and the reason cited is an online error in the portal , which is also mentioned in the anonymous complaint sent by the applicant stating that there is an error in the online portal which sh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and his partners for a long time from beginning of illegal coal levy collection in 2020 which was revealed during interrogation of the applicant. He was involved in holding meetings of coal traders related to coal levy collection in Korba, Raigarh, Surajpur Bilaspur districts. After the coal collection started, he used to collect coal levy from big coal traders while staying at Suryakant Tiwari's house in Anupam Nagar, Raipur and deposit it with Rajnikanth. He used to maintain the accounts of all the money with Rajnikanth Tiwari. He used to prepare the complete accounts of the distribution of money. In Korba, Raigarh, Surajpur Districts, people like Moinuddin Qureshi, Parekh Kurre, Rahul Singh, Matu alias Virendra Jaiswal used to bring the collected money and deposit it with him, which he used to get counted by machine and prepare the accounts by matching the money on the basis of coal DO in computer excel sheet and then he or the people bringing the money on his instructions used to deposit it with Rajnikanth Tiwari along with the accounting slip. He was very close and trusted associate of Suryakant Tiwari, who along with maintaining accounts of the money collected by Suryaka ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... role of applicant-Sandeep Kumar Nayak (MCRC No. 7210/2024) 14. Applicant-Sandeep Kumar Nayak was posted as Mining Officer in Mining Department, Surajpur and neglected and misused his official duties and in the initial stage of coal levy collection, cooperated by organizing a meeting of coal transporters and traders with the head of coal collection syndicate Suryakant Tiwari, Hemant Jaiswal and other members. When the collection of illegal coal levy of Rs. 25/- per tonne started, coal transporters and traders used to submit the coal DO (delivery order) received from SECL to the mining department to obtain NOC before transportation, but he in connivance with Rahul Kumar Singh and Virendra Jaiswal alias Montu who are members of Suryakant Tiwari's syndicate operating in Surajpur district used to collect the illegal coal levy of Rs. 25/- per tonne on DO and handedover to Rahul Singh or Virendra Jaiswal, members of Suryakant Tiwari's syndicate, and thereafter they sent an OK message to the present applicant who used to provide NOC on DO. Until the illegal coal levy of Rs. 25/- was paid, NOC was not given by the mining office, due to which coal transporters and traders had a fear ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... imself, as a result of which he alongwith Suryakant Tiwari's syndicate illegally collected Rs. 25/- per ton from Rahul Singh and paid Rs. 1/- per ton to Sandeep Nayak and only after that their e-permit NOC was issued. Witnesses have stated that Rs. 15-20 lakh was paid to the syndicate and the applicant as illegal levy. The statement is attached in the case as evidence. The WhatsApp chats between Sandeep Nayak and syndicate member Rahul Singh were seized by the Income Tax Department. It is also clear from the above chats that the applicant used to help Suryakant and his syndicate members in collecting coal and any delivery order was cleared by him only when the illegal levy was paid by the transporter to Suryakant and the people associated with his syndicate. In this way, it has been proved against the applicant that he has earned illegal and undue advantage by providing protection to the members of the illegal coal levy collection syndicate by being involved in the criminal conspiracy of Shri Suryakant Tiwari's syndicate. The role of applicant-Chandra Prakash Jaiswal (MCRC No. 7292/2024) 16. Applicant-Chandra Prakash Jaiswal is real younger brother of Hemant Jaiswal. In the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ation Pvt. Ltd. for about Rs. 96 crores in the year 2022. In the ledger book of Maa Mandwarani seized by the Income Tax Department, Suryakant Tiwari, Hemant Jaiswal, Jogendra Singh, Anup Bansal and Rupesh Garg have been found to be partners and the amount of their share in the firm is clearly mentioned. The applicant has also invested a huge cash in purchasing of this washeries. In the search operation conducted by the Income Tax Department at the residence of Hemant Jaiswal on 30.06.2022, about Rs 16.50 lakh cash was recovered. In this way, the allegation against the applicant of acting as an active associate of Suryakant Tiwari's syndicate by joining the criminal conspiracy and obtaining illegal benefits has been found to be proved. The whatsapp chat of Hemant Jaiswal with syndicate members like Roshan, Nikhil has also been seized during income tax raid which also shows his connection with coal. The role of applicant Virendra Kumar Jaiswal @ Montu (MCRC No. 7615/2024) 18. Applicant Virendra Kumar Jaiswal @ Montu is close relative of Hemant Jaiswal and in the year 2014-15, he used to work with Maa Jai Ambe Road Lines a joint firm of Hemant Jaiswal and Suryakant Tiwari. Being a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to send an OK message with the DO to the mining office then only the mining department provided NOC to the DO of coal transporters and coal traders which is confirmed by the statement of the operator of Mahamaya Juice Center and coal traders. The applicant used to bring the money collected as illegal coal levy of Rs. 25/- per tonne in Korba District when Moinuddin Qureshi was not present, to the residence and office of Suryakant Tiwari sitated at Anupam Nagar, Raipur once a week and deposit it with Rajnikant Tiwari and Roshan Singh, which has been mentioned in the diaries seized from the residence of Rajnikant Tiwari by the Income Tax Department, which has been accepted by the applicant himself and Roshan Singh during interrogation. 20. The applicant used to collect the money collected from illegal coal levy in Korba and Surajpur, Raigarh Districts and after preparing information in excel sheet on his laptop, he used to give it to Moinuddin Qureshi along with money in pen drive or sometimes he himself used to leave it with Rajnikant Tiwari and Roshan Singh at Raipur. The applicant along with Rahul Singh, Virendra Jaiswal alias Montu had told about the same in their statements durin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... l not be provided no objection certificate (NOC) for transportation and under this pressure, the transporters have paid the illegal levy amount of Rs. 25/- per tonne to the syndicate but no such evidence has been placed on record by the prosecuting agency before the learned trial Court. He would further submit that Mr. Ajit Sonwani, was posted as F.M.S. appointed by the Directorate, in Korba who has been posted in all other Districts of the State to resolve the errors in the Mineral Online Portal from time to time, the prosecution has pressurized Ajit Sonwani to record a statement before the learned trial Court under section 164 of Cr.P.C. and no electronic and documentary evidence has been submitted in the charge sheet. He would further submit that there is no document on record to suggest that applicant has played an active role in illegal collection of crores of rupees from the transporters and earned undue profit and the statement of the witnesses have been recorded by way of threatening, therefore, statement of the witnesses brought by the prosecution cannot be relied upon in the court of law. He would further submit that documents and evidence related to financial transaction ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... me in question as no role has been played by them in alleged offence and there is no evidence to connect the present applicants with the alleged offence. He would further submit that the applicants are neither government servant nor hold any post. He would also submit that it has been alleged by the prosecution that the applicant-Roshan Kumar Singh used to look after the accounts of alleged main co-accused person ie. Suryakant Tiwari but there is no evidence or material to connect the applicants with the allegation as there is no seizure made from the applicants with respect to alleged role played by them in commission of offence. He would further submit that the applicant-Roshan Kumar Singh was only looking after accounts and for filing of Income Tax returns and was working under the instructions of Rajnikant Tiwari on salary of Rs. 30,000/- per month. He would further submit that the applicants were not made accused in the case/investigation before the Enforcement Directorate under the PMLA and were given clean chit stating that they have no role to play in the instant crime. He would further submit that the applicant-Roshan Kumar Singh is aged about 39 years and are getting eye ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ng of the FIR offence under Section 384 of Cr.P.C. was not registered and the same has been included later in the charge-sheet. He would further submit that the applicant is in jail since 13.06.2024 and trial will take some time for its final conclusion and would pray for releasing the applicant on bail. 28. Mr. Kishore Bhaduri, senior counsel for the applicant-Hemant Jaiswal in MCRC No. 7419 of 2024 would submit that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the crime in question. He would further submit that the sole basis on which the FIR has been registered by the Economic Offence Wing is the letter dated 11.01.2024 which is sent by the Directorate of Enforcement. In the said letter there is not even a single whisper against the present applicant and he has not been named as accused under the PMLA. 2002 and there is no justification of roping the applicant automatically in the case of offence punishable under Indian Penal Code, Prevention of Corruption Act. The investigating agency is solely relying upon the investigation of the Directorate of Enforcement and has failed to establish prima facie by way of legally admissible evidence that the applicant is invol ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pplicant only on the basis of statement of witnesses. She would further submit that the applicant was not an active part of the illegal coal levy syndicate and the allegation regarding collection of illegal coal levy is based on the statements given by co-accused and witnesses which are yet to be examined in trial. She would further submit that the applicant is in jail since 13.06.2024 and is ready to abide by all the conditions imposed upon him while granting bail and would pray for grant of bail to the applicant. 31. To substantiate her submission, she would refer to the judgment rendered by Hon ble the Supreme Court in case of Sanjay Chandra Vs. CBI, reported in (2012) 1 SCC 40, Dipak Shubhashchandra Mehta Vs. CBI, reported in (2012) 4 SCC 134, Satender Kumar Antil Vs. CBI, reported in (2022) 10 SCC 51, Prem Prakash Vs. Union of India, reported in 2024 SCC OnLine SC 2270, Arvind Kejriwal Vs. Central Bureau of Investigation, reported in 2024 SCC OnLine SC 2550, Haricharan Kurmi Vs. State of Bihar, reported in AIR 1964 SC 1184 Arnesh Kumar Vs. State of Bihar, reported in (2014) 8 SCC 273. 32. Mr. Soumya Rai, counsel for the applicant-Parekh Kurre in MCRC No. 6919 of 2024 would sub ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... l to the applicant. 33. Dr. Saurabh Kumar Pande, counsel for the ACB/EOW opposing the submissions made by learned counsel for the applicants and referring to the FIR and the case diary would submit that all the applicants are involved in the economical offence which is not only heinous offence but also against the economic of the Nation. The custodial interrogation of the applicants are required as the applicants have not disclosed the source of income from where these properties which have been detailed in the final report and if the accused remained in the custody, the sources of purchase of property can be traced out. As such, he would pray for rejection of the bail applications filed by them. 34. I have heard learned counsel for the applicants and the respondents as well as considered the case diary. 35. The prosecution has collected the material regarding active involvement of the applicants in the syndicate and main accused-Suryakant Tiwari has extorted money, which has been utilized for purchase of properties. Thus, involvement of the applicants in commission of offence under Section 7, 7A 12 of the PC Act, is prima facie reflected. Hon ble the Supreme Court while considerin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... er, Ted, Bombay v. Bher Chand Tikaji Bora and others (1999) 5 SCC 720, while hearing an appeal by the Enforcement Directorate against the order of the Single Judge of the Bombay High Court granting anticipatory bail to the respondent thereon, the Supreme Court set aside the order of the Single Judge granting anticipatory bail. 81. Grant of anticipatory bail at the stage of investigation may frustrate the investigating agency in interrogating the accused and in collecting the useful information and also the materials which might have been concealed. Success in such interrogation would elude if the accused knows that he is protected by the order of the court. Grant of anticipatory bail, particularly in economic offences would definitely hamper the effective investigation. Having regard to the materials said to have been collected by the respondent-Enforcement Directorate and considering the stage of the investigation, we are of the view that it is not a fit case to grant anticipatory bail. 36. Again Hon ble the Supreme Court in case of Ramesh Bhavan Rathod Vs. Vishanbhai Hirabhai Makwana (Koli) another reported in 2021 (6) SCC 230 has held in paragraph 23 as under :- 24. The principl ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the victim (if alive), the complainant, their relatives, friends or other witnesses . Similarly, the Court held that the grant of bail by the High Court can be set aside, consistent with the precedents we have discussed above, when such grant is based on non-application of mind or is innocent of the relevant factors for such grant. 37. The prosecution has collected sufficient material to demonstrate that the applicants have active participation in the syndicate which has collected illegal money as per the directions of the main accused Suryakant Tiwari by extorting money which has also been utilized for purchase of properties by the accused persons and in the bail petition, they have contended that they are falsely implicated in the crime by taking the stand which is required to be ascertained by the trial Court only during the trial and the applicants have not placed any material to demonstrate that they are not prima facie involved in the commission of offence. The accused persons have nowhere stated that they are unknown to the main accused and there is no linkage between them for commission of offence by the main accused-Suryakant Tiwari with the add of government officers. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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