Appellate Tribunal Cannot Substitute Attached Property with FDRs or Guarantees | SAFEMA

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attached property with FDRs

Case Details: Sanjeev Tyagi vs. Deputy Director Directorate of Enforcement, Delhi - [2025] 180 taxmann.com 393 (SAFEMA-New Delhi)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

  • V. Anandarajan, Member
  • Manav Gupta, Sahil, Abhinav Jain & Mithil Malhotra, Advs. for the Appellant.
  • Aditya Singla, Adv. for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

In the instant case, the Adjudicating Authority confirmed the attachment of various properties of the appellant made by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) vide Provisional Attachment Order. The said order of the Adjudicating Authority confirming the attachment of properties had been contested by the appellant in appeals pending before the Appellate Tribunal.

The appellant filed an instant application praying that, without prejudice to the outcome of the main appeal, properties in respect of which the instant application had been filed might be allowed to be substituted with an equivalent security in the form of a bank guarantee or Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDRs).

It was noted that property was jointly owned by two appellants, who were both defendants before the Adjudicating Authority and were appellants before the Appellate Tribunal, pending outcome of main appeal, it would have to be presumed that entire property was prima-facie involved in money laundering and, therefore, question of accepting equivalent fixed deposits for a part of value of property would not arise.

It was further noted that in none of the cases cited by the appellant, it had been categorically held that the Appellate Tribunal had the requisite power to allow substitution of property.

Appellate Tribunal Held

The Appellate Tribunal held that, in the absence of any specific power vested in the Appellate Tribunal to allow substitution of attached property, the instant application was to be dismissed.

List of Cases Reviewed

  • Gagan Infraenergy Ltd. v. Deputy Director Directorate of Enforcement [2024] 164 taxmann.com 415 (Delhi)/[2024 SCC OnLine Del 4019]
  • Revati Cements (P.) Ltd. v. Union of India [2024] 164 taxmann.com 13 (Delhi)/[2024 SCC OnLine Del 4020] (para 13)
  • Agribiotech Industries Ltd. v. Deputy Director, ED FPA-PMLA-3025/JP/2019, order dated 29.05.2023 (para 19) followed
  • Directorate of Enforcement v. Mahender Kumar Khandelwal LPA No. 148/2024, dated 6-6-2024 (para 6)
  • Esskay Properties and Investment (P.) Ltd. v. Union of India Special Leave to Appeal (c) No. 9335 of 2022, dated 16-9-2022 (para 7) distinguished

List of Cases Referred to

  • Gagan Infraenergy Ltd. v. Deputy Director Directorate of Enforcement [2024] 164 taxmann.com 415 (Delhi) (para 4)
  • VGN Property Developers (P.) Ltd. v. Deputy Director, Directorate of Enforcement, Chennai [2020] 116 taxmann.com 148 ((PMLA-AT), NEW DELHI) (para 4)
  • Revati Cements (P.) Ltd. v. Union of India [2024] 164 taxmann.com 13 (Delhi) (para 4)
  • Directorate of Enforcement v. Mahender Kumar Khandelwal [LPA No. 148/2024, dated 6-6-2024] (para 4)
  • India Cements Ltd. v. Adjudicating Authority [WP (C) No. 9361 of 2015, dated 5-11-2015] (para 4)
  • Enforcement Directorate v. Smt. Y.S. Bharathi Reddy [C. M. S. A. No. 15 of 2019, dated 28-11-2022] (para 4)
  • Enforcement Directorate v. Smt. Y.S. Bharathi Reddy [SLP (crl.) Diary No. (s) 22285 of 2023, dated 14-7-2023] (para 4)
  • Esskay Properties and Investment (P.) Ltd. v. Union of India [Special Leave to Appeal (c) No. 9335 of 2022, dated 16-9-2022] (para 4)
  • Joint Director, Directorate of Enforcement v. A. Raja [CRL. L.P. No. 184 of 2018, dated 20-9-2023] (para 4)
  • Hetero Drugs Ltd. v. Dy. Director, Directorate of Enforcement, Delhi 2017 (354) E.L.T. 369 (ATPMLA) (para 5)
  • Ara Properties v. Deputy Director, Directorate of Enforcement, Mumbai [2024] 165 taxmann.com 203 (SAFEMA – New Delhi) (para 5)
  • Sanghavi Bullion Pvt. Ltd. v. Deputy Director Directorate of Enforcement [FPA-PMLA-5895/MUM/2023, dated 29-5-2024] (para 11)
  • Agribiotech Industries Ltd. v. Deputy Director, ED [FPA-PMLA-3025/JP/2019, order dated 29.05.2023] (para 19).

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Taxmann Publications has a dedicated in-house Research & Editorial Team. This team consists of a team of Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries, and Lawyers. This team works under the guidance and supervision of editor-in-chief Mr Rakesh Bhargava.

The Research and Editorial Team is responsible for developing reliable and accurate content for the readers. The team follows the six-sigma approach to achieve the benchmark of zero error in its publications and research platforms. The team ensures that the following publication guidelines are thoroughly followed while developing the content:

  • The statutory material is obtained only from the authorized and reliable sources
  • All the latest developments in the judicial and legislative fields are covered
  • Prepare the analytical write-ups on current, controversial, and important issues to help the readers to understand the concept and its implications
  • Every content published by Taxmann is complete, accurate and lucid
  • All evidence-based statements are supported with proper reference to Section, Circular No., Notification No. or citations
  • The golden rules of grammar, style and consistency are thoroughly followed
  • Font and size that's easy to read and remain consistent across all imprint and digital publications are applied