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TMI Blog2025 (2) TMI 748X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ectly be derived or obtained as a result of any criminal activity relatable to the scheduled offence. The explanation has been inserted in the statute book by way of Act 23 of 2019. The reason for giving explanation under Section 2 (1) (u) is by way of clarification to the effect that whether as per the substantive provision of Section 2 (1) (u), the property derived or obtained, directly or indirectly, by any person as a result of criminal activity relating to a scheduled offence or the value of any such property or where such property is taken or held outside the country but by way of explanation the proceeds of crime has been given broader implication by including property not only derived or obtained from the scheduled offence but also any property which may directly or indirectly be derived or obtained as a result of any criminal activity relatable to the scheduled offence. It is settled connotation of law that at the stage of framing of charge, the probable defence of the accused is not to be considered and the materials, which are relevant for consideration, are the allegations made in the First Information Report/complaint, the statement of the witnesses recorded in cours ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the meaning of Section 2(c) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 or under Section 21 of the IPC therefore charges under Prevention of Corruption Act cannot be alleged against him. The learned Single Judge of this Court has categorically held that Resolution Professional is made during the resolution process before the Company Law Tribunal with its approval, he will be a public servant under Section 2(c)(v) of the P.C. Act - This Court is of the view that since the duties performed by RP are public in nature, they are public servants and Sec 2(c) of Prevention of Corruption Act is pretty clear that an individual who performs public duties are public servants for the purpose of the Act and hence, the legislature would have felt that there are no explicit provisions are required. The 'Resolution Professional' will not come within the meaning of 'Public Servant' under Section 2 (c) of the PC Act is not tenable in the eyes of law. Discharge application - HELD THAT:- The expression "money-laundering", ordinarily, means the process or activity of placement, layering and finally integrating the tainted property in the formal economy of the country. However, Section 3 has a wider re ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ot a fit case to allow the application for discharge.
Conclusion - i) A Resolution Professional, due to the nature of their duties, qualifies as a "public servant" under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. ii) The petitioner's actions, as alleged, constituted money laundering under Section 3 of the PMLA, given the acquisition and possession of proceeds of crime. iii) At the discharge stage, the court must assume the prosecution's evidence to be true and determine if a prima facie case exists, without delving into the probative value of the evidence.
The petitioner's application for discharge dismissed. X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... de in the complaint case is accepted on its face, then also no offence under Section 3 of the PML Act, 2002 is made out against the petitioner. 8. The petitioner is an 'Insolvency Professional' having unimpeachable experience of 25 years. It has been submitted that under the scheme of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016,(I & B Code 2016) before filing an insolvency application the applicant has to propose the name of an 'Interim Resolution Professional' [IRP], accordingly, herein, the financial creditor in this case i.e., State Bank of India, Antaghat, Patna being the applicant sought the consent of the petitioner to act as the IRP for the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process [CIRP], which the petitioner consented vide letter dated 03.06.2019. Accordingly, the Financial Creditor [SBI] filed an insolvency petition against the corporate debtor before the National Company Law Tribunal, Kolkata Branch [NCLT], which was allowed and the petitioner was appointed as Interim Resolution Professional [IRP]. 9. After being appointed as IRP, the petitioner in compliance of the Code and Regulation made thereunder, made a public announcement of the initiation of CIRP of the Corporate Debtor ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d that F.I.R. has been registered against the petitioner under Section 7 of the P.C. Act (as amended in 2018), whereas the said Act is not applicable to the petitioner since he is not a public servant as defined under Section 2(c) of the P.C. Act. In the case at hand, the prosecuting agency has overlooked the fact that mere alleged commission of a scheduled offence does not give rise to generation of proceeds of crime as defined in Section 2 (u) of the Act for the reason that - (i) before the alleged amount purported to be the alleged bribe money could come in the possession of the petitioner the same was intercepted and seized by the CBI; and (ii). the ingredient of offence of money laundering under section 3 of the Act about projecting or claiming it as untainted property is completely missing. 16. In the present case neither the ingredients of proceeds of crime has been found nor the ingredient of Section 3 of the said Act is found as the alleged amount could not reach in the possession of the petitioner and, therefore, there was no occasion for its concealment, use or projection or claim of the proceeds of crime as untainted property in any manner. 17. It is further subm ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ions of PML Act, 2002. 23. It is further submitted that in the present case, the very amount which is said to have been coming in the hand of the petitioner was the money for being deposited in the account of the Company or was proceeds of crime has not yet been determined to constitute it as a Schedule Offence and there is no ingredient and sufficient ground for proceeding against the accused petitioner in this case. 24. It is further submitted that as per prosecution no any cash movement has been made by this petitioner neither he has tried to claim the alleged tainted money of himself as untainted nor he channelized the alleged tainted cash in free flower market for its regularization in main stream, hence the basic ingredient for constituting offence of money laundering is totally lacking. The petitioner was never put in possession of the alleged cash, which is said to have been recovered from the possession of the petitioner. 25. In the backdrop of aforesaid facts, learned counsel for the petitioner submits that considering Section 233 of the Code, the Delhi High Court in W.P (Crl.) No. 544 of 2020 [Dr. Arun Mohan Vs. CBI] has observed that an Insolvency Professional does n ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g. The aforesaid act of the petitioner clearly covers the definition of offence of money laundering under Section 3 of the PML Act, 2002. 33. In the instant case, the petitioner has knowingly acquired, possessed but he had projected the proceeds of crime [illegal gratification] in such a manner as it if was untainted money and therefore, guilty of offence of money-laundering as per the provision of Section 3 of PML Act, 2002 and as such is liable to be punished under Section 4 of the PML Act, 2002. 34. So far submission advanced on behalf of petitioner that the petitioner is not a 'public servant', it has been contended by learned counsel appearing for the respondent-ED that the petitioner filed revision petition being Cr.M.P. No. 1048 of 2021, in which the Hon'ble Court vide order dated 05.04.2023 observed that "...it is manifest that the appointment of resolution professional is made by the National Company Law Tribunal, which is the Adjudicating Authority for the insolvency resolution process of the companies under the I & B Code, 2016. Resolution Professional has a key role to play in the insolvency resolution process and to protect the assets of the corporate debtors. From h ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ation and Noble Programme of Action adopted by United Nations General Assembly vide its Resolution No. S-17/2 of 23.2.1990, the United Nations in the Special Session on countering World Drug Problem Together concluded on the 8th to the 10th June, 1998, urging the State parties to enact a comprehensive legislation. This is evident from the introduction and Statement of Objects and Reasons accompanying the Bill which became the 2002 Act. The same reads thus: "INTRODUCTION Money-laundering poses a serious threat not only to the financial systems of countries, but also to their integrity and sovereignty. To obviate such threats international community has taken some initiatives. It has been felt that to prevent money-laundering and connected activities a comprehensive legislation is urgently needed. To achieve this objective the Prevention of Money-laundering Bill, 1998 was introduced in the Parliament. The Bill was referred to the Standing Committee on Finance, which presented its report on 4th March, 1999 to the Lok Sabha. The Central Government broadly accepted the recommendation of the Standing Committee and incorporated them in the said Bill along with some other desired chang ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ting money-laundering, attachment of proceeds of crime, adjudication and confiscation thereof for combating money-laundering and also to prosecute the persons indulging in the process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime. 43. It needs to refer herein the definition of "proceeds of crime" as provided under Section 2 (1) (u) of the Act, 2002 which reads as under: "2 (1) (u) "proceeds of crime" means any property derived or obtained, directly or indirectly, by any person as a result of criminal activity relating to a scheduled offence or the value of any such property [or where such property is taken or held outside the country, then the property equivalent in value held within the country] [or abroad]; [Explanation.-For the removal of doubts, it is hereby clarified that "proceeds of crime" include property not only derived or obtained from the scheduled offence but also any property which may directly or indirectly be derived or obtained as a result of any criminal activity relatable to the scheduled offence;]" 44. It is evident from the aforesaid provision that "proceeds of crime" means any property derived or obtained, directly or indirectly, by any person as a r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... al value involved in such offences is [one crore rupees] or more; or the offences specified under Part C of the Schedule. 50. The offence of money laundering has been defined under Section 3 of the Act, 2002 which reads as under: "3. Offence of money-laundering.-Whosoever directly or indirectly attempts to indulge or knowingly assists 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 offence of money-laundering. [Explanation.- For the 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 indulge or 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 proce ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , it would follow that it is only upon projecting or claiming the property in question as untainted property, the offence would be complete. This would undermine the efficacy of the legislative intent behind Section 3 of the Act and also will be in disregard of the view expressed by the FATF in connection with the occurrence of the word "and" preceding the expression "projecting or claiming" therein. This Court in Pratap Singh v. State of Jharkhand, enunciated that the international treaties, covenants and conventions although may not be a part of municipal law, the same be referred to and followed by the Courts having regard to the fact that India is a party to the said treaties. This Court went on to observe that the Constitution of India and other ongoing statutes have been read consistently with the rules of international law. It is also observed that the Constitution of India and the enactments made by Parliament must necessarily be understood in the context of the present-day scenario and having regard to the international treaties and convention as our constitution takes note of the institutions of the world community which had been created. In Apparel Export Promotion Counc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... is further supported by tangible and credible evidence indicative of involvement of the person concerned in any process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime, action under the Act can be taken forward for attachment and confiscation of proceeds of crime and until vesting thereof in the Central Government, such process initiated would be a standalone process. 59. Now, after having discussed the judgments passed by the Hon'ble Apex Court on the issue of various provisions of the Act, 2002, this Court, is proceeding to discuss the principle of discharge. 60. It is well settled that at the time of framing of charge meticulous examination of evidence is not required, however the evidence can be sifted or weighed at least for the purpose of recording a satisfaction that a prima facie case is made out for framing charge to proceed in the case. Further the trial Court is not required to discuss the evidence for the purpose of conducting a trial but the discussion of the materials on record is required to reflect the application of judicial mind for finding that a prima-facie case is made out against the petitioner. 61. It is settled connotation of law that at the stage of fr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on record by the prosecution are true and evaluate the said materials and documents with a view to find out whether the facts emerging therefrom taken at their face value disclose the existence of all the ingredients constituting the alleged offence. At this stage, probative value of the materials has to be gone into and the court is not expected to go deep into the matter and hold that the materials would not warrant a conviction. In our opinion, what needs to be considered is whether there is a ground for presuming that the offence has been committed and not whether a ground for convicting the accused has been made out. To put it differently, if the court thinks that the accused might have committed the offence on the basis of the materials on record on its probative value, it can frame the charge; though for conviction, the court has to come to the conclusion that the accused has committed the offence. The law does not permit a mini trial at this stage. 32.4. While passing the impugned orders [N. Suresh Rajan v. Inspector of Police, Criminal Revision Case (MD) No. 528 22 of 2009, order dated 10-12-2010 (Mad)] , [State v. K. Ponmudi, (2007) 1 MLJ (Cri) 100], the court has not ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... al mind to determine as to whether a case for trial has been made out or not. It is true that in such proceedings, the court is not supposed to hold a mini trial by marshalling the evidence on record." 65. It is further settled position of law that defence on merit is not to be considered at the time of stage of framing of charge and that cannot be a ground of discharge. A reference may be made to the judgment as rendered by the Hon'ble Apex Court in State of Rajasthan v. Ashok Kumar Kashyap, (2021) 11 SCC 191. For ready reference Paragraph no.10 to 17 of the said judgment are quoted below:- "10. By the impugned judgment [Ashok Kumar Kashyap v. State of Rajasthan, 2018 SCC OnLine Raj 3468] and order, the High Court in exercise of its revisional jurisdiction has set aside the order passed by the learned Special Judge framing the charge against the accused under Section 7 of the PC Act and consequently has discharged the accused for the said offence. What has been weighed with the High Court while discharging the accused is stated in paras 10 and 11 of the impugned judgment [Ashok Kumar Kashyap v. State of Rajasthan, 2018 SCC OnLine Raj 3468] and order, which are reproduced he ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t must proceed on the assumption that the material which has been brought on the record by the prosecution is true and evaluate the material in order to determine whether the facts emerging from the material, taken on its face value, disclose the existence of the ingredients necessary to constitute the offence. In State of T.N. v. N. SureshRajan [State of T.N. v. N. Suresh Rajan, (2014) 11 SCC 709 : (2014) 3 SCC (Cri) 529 : (2014) 2 SCC (L&S) 721], adverting to the earlier decisions on the subject, this Court held : (SCC pp. 721-22, para 29) '29. ... At this stage, probative value of the materials has to be gone into and the court is not expected to go deep into the matter and hold that the materials would not warrant a conviction. In our opinion, what needs to be considered is whether there is a ground for presuming that the offence has been committed and not whether a ground for convicting the accused has been made out. To put it differently, if the court thinks that the accused might have committed the offence on the basis of the materials on record on its probative value, it can frame the charge; though for conviction, the court has to come to the conclusion that the acc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g a mini trial at the stage of discharge application. 16. We are not further entering into the merits of the case and/or merits of the transcript as the same is required to be considered at the time of trial. Defence on merits is not to be considered at the stage of framing of the charge and/or at the stage of discharge application. 17. In view of the above and for the reasons stated above, the impugned judgment [Ashok Kumar Kashyap v. State of Rajasthan, 2018 SCC OnLine Raj 3468] and order passed by the High Court 28 discharging the accused under Section 7 of the PC Act is unsustainable in law and the same deserves to be quashed and set aside and is accordingly hereby quashed and set aside and the order passed by the learned Special Judge framing charge against the accused under Section 7 of the PC Act is hereby restored. Now the case is to be tried against the accused by the competent court for the offence under Section 7 of the PC Act, in accordance with law and its own merits." 66. The Hon'ble Apex Court has further dealt with the proper basis for framing of charge in the case of Onkar Nath Mishra & Ors Vs. State (NCT of Delhi) and Anr. wherein at paragraphs 11, 12 and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d is reasonably clear in the section itself. The power has been entrusted to the Sessions Judge who brings to bear his knowledge and experience in criminal trials. Besides, he has the assistance of counsel for the accused and Public Prosecutor. He is required to hear both sides before framing any charge against the accused or for discharging him. If the Sessions Judge after hearing the parties frames a charge and also makes an order in support thereof, the law must be allowed to take its own course. Self-restraint on the part of the High Court should be the rule unless there is a glaring injustice which stares the court in the face. The opinion on any matter may differ depending upon the person who views it. There may be as many opinions on a particular matter as there are courts but it is no ground for the High Court to interdict the trial. It would be better for the High Court to allow the trial to proceed. Reference in this regard may be taken from the judgment as rendered by the Hon'ble Apex Court in Stree Atyachar Virodhi Parishad v. Dilip Nathumal Chordia, (1989) 1 SCC 715. 69. In the backdrop of aforesaid case laws and judicial deduction, this Court is now proceeding to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ic servant. Further it is the nature of a duty, not an individual's position, that discloses whether or not the person carrying it out is a public servant. Under the Prevention of Corruption Act the concept was to replace the notion of conventionally recognized public officials with those who carry out public duties. 76. Further it is evident from the record that earlier the petitioner had preferred the Criminal Miscellaneous Petition being Cr.M.P. No. 1048 of 2021 for quashing of entire criminal proceeding arising out of the instant case, instituted against the petitioner including the F.I.R. being R.C.1(A)/2020-D, CBI, ACB, Dhanbad for the offence under Section 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 by raising the similar ground which has been raised herein that petitioner is not a public servant within the meaning of Section 2(c) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 or under Section 21 of the IPC therefore charges under Prevention of Corruption Act cannot be alleged against him. 77. The learned Single Judge of this Court vide order dated 05.04.2023 passed in the aforesaid Petition being Cr.M.P. No. 1048 of 2021 while taking in to consideration the aforesaid ground of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rim resolution professional is appointed by the adjudicating authority on the insolvency commencement date. Under section 22 (3) (a), the committee of creditors after taking a decision to continue the interim resolution professional as the resolution professional, is required to communicate its decision to Adjudicating Authority and others. Even in cases where resolution professional appointed under section 22 is replaced by the committee of creditors under section 27, the name of the insolvency professional proposed to be appointed is to be forwarded to the Adjudicating Authority under Section 22(3), and thereafter the Adjudicating Authority is to forward the name of the proposed resolution professional to the Board for its confirmation in the same manner as laid down in Section 16. Against this scheme of the I&B Code the plea advanced on behalf of the petitioner that Adjudicating Authority had no role in the appointment of Resolution Professional is not sustainable. 21. Considering the fact that the appointment of Resolution Professional is made during the resolution process before the Company Law Tribunal with its approval, he will be a public servant under Section 2 (c) (v) o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... bound with the order passed by the learned single Judge of this Court wherein it has been observed that Resolution Professional has a key role to play in the insolvency resolution process and to protect the assets of the corporate debtors and from his nature of assignment and duty to be performed his office entails performance of functions which are in the nature of public duty and therefore will come within the meaning of public servant both under sections 2 (c) (v) & (viii) of the PC Act. 84. Further, it needs to refer herein that a bare reading of Section 232 of the I&B Code 2016 reveals that RP is not listed amongst persons who are public servant within the meaning of Section 21 of the then IPC and Section 233 I&B Code 2016 protects to RP for any acts done in good faith. At the same time, the duties and functions of RP u/s 208 I&B Code 2016 are public in nature. These responsibilities of RP are closely linked to bank loans that accept public deposits; as a result, it can be said that RP is carrying out public functions. 85. Further, Sec 7(1) of the Code states that "A financial creditor either by itself or jointly with other financial creditors, or any other person on behalf ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eration of an application for discharge, the court has to proceed with an assumption that the materials brought on record by the prosecution are true and evaluate the said materials and documents with a view to find out whether the facts emerging therefrom taken at their face value disclose the existence of all the ingredients constituting the alleged offence. At this stage, probative value of the materials has to be gone into and the court is not expected to go deep into the matter and hold that the materials would not warrant a conviction. 91. At this stage what needs to be considered is whether there is a ground for presuming that the offence has been committed and not whether a ground for convicting the accused has been made out. To put it differently, if the court thinks that the accused might have committed the offence on the basis of the materials on record on its probative value, it can frame the charge; though for conviction, the court has to come to the conclusion that the accused has committed the offence. The law does not permit a mini trial at this stage. 92. The position of law that emerges is that at the stage of discharge/framing of charge, the Judge is merely req ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... khs were recovered from the accused during raid and remaining bribe money of Rs 2 Lakhs regarding which the accused directed the Amit Sarawgi, during the meeting, to bring to Patna was recovered from the drawer of the office table, which was also taken in possession by CBI. 98. Thus, in investigation it has come that the petitioner being an Insolvency Professional accepted Rs. 5 lakhs of illegal gratification from Amit Sarawgi, Director of Adi Ispat Pvt. Ltd. and Sri Bir Ispat Pvt. Ltd., promising to show leniency in insolvency proceedings and help him to take control of the company. 99. Further, it has been mentioned in the prosecution complaint that the petitioner is knowingly a party and actually involved in the activities connected to the proceeds of crime viz. its acquisition, concealment and claiming the proceeds of crime as untainted property. Paras-6.5, 6.6, 6.8, 6.9, and 7 etc. of the prosecution complaint depict that the ill-gotten money i.e. "proceeds of crime" was found in the possession of the petitioner. 100. It needs to refer herein that based upon the definition Clause (u) of sub-section (1) of Section 2 of the Act 2002 which defines "proceeds of crime", it is ev ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t of integration of tainted property in the formal economy to constitute an act of money-laundering. This is amply clear from the original provision, which has been further clarified by insertion of Explanation vide Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019, Section 3, as amended. The act of projecting or claiming proceeds of crime to be untainted property presupposes that the person is in possession of or is using the same (proceeds of crime), also an independent activity constituting offence of money-laundering. In other words, it is not open to read the different activities conjunctively because of the word "and". If that interpretation is accepted, the effectiveness of Section 3 of the 2002 Act can be easily frustrated by the simple device of one person possessing proceeds of crime and his accomplice would indulge in projecting or claiming it to be untainted property so that neither is covered under Section 3 of the 2002 Act. Thus, a person who is as longer as in possession and enjoyment of Proceeds of Crime, PMLA can certainly be invoked. 107. The question that whether mere receipt of bribe money is an act of money laundering or not is elaborately considered by the Apex Court of India in the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ion. It may even be weaker than a prima facie case. There is a fine distinction between the language of Sections 227 and 228 of the Code. Section 227 is the expression of a definite opinion and judgment of the Court while Section 228 is tentative. Thus, to say that at the stage of framing of charge, the Court should form an opinion that the accused is certainly guilty of committing an offence, is an approach which is impermissible in terms of Section 228 of the Code. * * * 30. We have already noticed that the legislature in its wisdom has used the expression "there is ground for presuming that the accused has committed an offence". This has an inbuilt element of presumption once the ingredients of an offence with reference to the allegations made are satisfied, the Court would not doubt the case of the prosecution unduly and extend its jurisdiction to quash the charge in haste. A Bench of this Court in State of Maharashtra v. Som Nath Thapa (1996) 4 SCC 659 referred to the meaning of the word "presume" while relying upon Black's Law Dictionary. It was defined to mean "to believe or accept upon probable evidence"; "to take as proved until evidence to the contrary is forthcom ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... given therein that on plain reading of Section 3 of the Act, 2002, an offence under Section 3 can be committed after a scheduled offence is committed. By giving an example, it has been clarified that if a person who is unconnected with the scheduled offence, knowingly assists the concealment of the proceeds of crime or knowingly assists the use of proceeds of crime, in that case, he can be held guilty of committing an offence under Section 3 of the PMLA. 113. It is settled position of law that Section 3 of the PMLA captures every process and activity, direct or indirect, in dealing with the proceeds of crime and is not limited to the happening of the final act of integration of tainted property in the formal economy. The expression "and" occurring in Section 3 has to be construed as "or" so as to include "every" process or activity indulged into by anyone. Projecting or claiming the property as untainted property would constitute an offence of money laundering on its own, being an independent process or activity. The interpretation suggested that only upon projecting or claiming the property in question as untainted property that the offence of Section 3 would be complete, is not ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ated that he had accepted the said money in order to deposit it in the bank account of Adi lspat Pvt. Ltd, thus, it can be inferred that he accepted illegal gratification and tried to project it as untainted money. 118. It has revealed in the investigation that out of these 5 lakhs, petitioner asked Amit Sarangi to hand over Rs. 2 lakhs to him at Patna at the time of next meeting, therefore prima facie ingredients of Section 3 of PMLA i.e. acquisition, possession and transfer are all available in this case in order to establish case of offence of money laundering. 119. At this juncture it needs to refer herein that if any person deals with proceeds of crime in any manner whether concealment of possession or acquisition or use, whether directly or indirectly, such person shall be guilty of offence of money laundering. In the instant case, prima facie it appears that the petitioner has knowingly acquired, possessed and had projected the proceeds of crime (illegal gratification) in such a manner as if it was untainted money and therefore, ingredients of offence of money laundering as per the provisions of Section 3 of PMLA is available herein. 120. In view of the fact, it appears t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n conjunction with Section 3 has been considered by the Trial Court in a right direction as held by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India and thus, this Court does not find any infirmity in respect of the findings made by the Trial Court in the order impugned. 125. For the foregoing reasons, having regard to facts and circumstances, as has been analysed hereinabove, the petitioner failed to make out a special case for exercise of power for discharge. 126. Therefore, this Court is of the view that it is not a case for showing interference with the order passed by the learned trial court. 127. In view of the above facts, reasons and analysis and considering the principles of discharge, this Court is of the view that there is no infirmity in the impugned orders to warrant interference by this Court, accordingly, the instant petition is hereby dismissed. 128. Before parting with the order, it is made clear that the findings so recorded at by this Court are restricted only for the purpose of dealing with the matter of discharge and, as such, the trial Court will not be prejudiced by any of the observations so recorded by this Court during trial. 129. Pending Interlocutory Applicat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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