Condonation Application for a 132-Day Delay Beyond the 120-Day Limit Under PMLA Was Dismissed as Time-Barred | HC

Case Details: Assistant Director, Directorate of Enforcement v. Branch Manager, Goa State Co-op Bank Ltd. - [2025] 173 taxmann.com 486 (HC-Bombay)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• B.P. Colabawalla & Somasekhar Sundaresan, JJ.
• Ashish Chavan & Yash Palan, Advs. for the Appellant.

Facts of the Case

In the instant case, in a money laundering case, the ED passed a provisional attachment order attaching the properties of the appellant. The Adjudicating Authority confirmed the said order. Being aggrieved by the order of the Adjudicating Authority, the Bank preferred an appeal before the Appellate Tribunal.

The Appellate Tribunal allowed the appeal and inter alia set aside the order of the Adjudicating Authority and the Provisional Attachment Order. Thereafter, the appellant preferred an appeal under Section 42 of the PMLA, 2002, before the Gujarat High Court.

Eventually, when the appeal was being argued before the Gujarat High Court, it was realised that the said appeal would lie before the High Court of Bombay. In these circumstances, the appellant withdrew the appeal before the Gujarat High Court with liberty to approach the appropriate High Court.

Thereafter, an appeal was lodged before the High Court of Bombay. It was noted that since there was a delay in filing the appeal, an instant interim Application was also filed seeking a condonation of the delay.

High Court Held

The High Court observed that beyond total period of 120 days as stipulated in Section 42 [read with its proviso] of the PMLA, the Writ Court has no power to condone delay. Further, the appellant took 132 days from the outcome at the Gujarat High Court to approach the High Court of Bombay, which was beyond the total period of 120 days as stipulated in Section 42 of the PMLA, 2002. Thus, an instant application seeking a condonation of delay was to be dismissed.

List of Cases Reviewed

• Faizal Hasamali Mirza alias Kasib v. State of Maharashtra and another (Para 18) distinguished.

List of Cases Referred to

• Faizal Hasamali Mirza alias Kasib v. State of Maharashtra and another 2023 SCC OnLine Bom 1936 (para 10)
• Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board v. Central Electricity Regulatory Commission and others (2010) 5 SCC 2023 (para 16)
• Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. v. Gujrat Energy Transmission Corporation Ltd. and others (2018) 3 SCC 41 (para 16).