FEMA | No Prejudice Caused to Petitioner Due to Non-supply of Unreadable Damaged Documents

Case Details: Mushtaq Ahmad Dar v. Enforcement Directorate - [2023] 151 taxmann.com 527 (HC-Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• • Sanjay Dhar, J.
  • M.A. Qayoom, Adv. for the Petitioner.
  • T.M. Shamsi, DSGI for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

In the instant case, the respondent issued a show cause notice to the petitioner regarding the contravention of FEMA. The Adjudicating Authority (NCLT) had, after considering the reply of the petitioner, framed an opinion that adjudication proceedings u/s 13(1) should be held against the petitioner.

The petitioner challenged the said communication, primarily, on the ground that the NCLT, without taking note of the request of the petitioner that he should be allowed to inspect documents relied upon by the respondent as the same was not legible, issued impugned communication/notice.

It was noted that certain documents available with the respondents were not legible as the same had been partly damaged in the floods of the year 2014. Therefore, even though the respondent was not in possession of legible copies of the said documents, as such, there was no occasion for the respondent to provide legible copies of these documents to the petitioner.

As a result, the petitioner’s argument that the principles of natural justice were violated by not furnishing these documents doesn’t hold good.

High Court Held

The High Court observed that even a perusal of the reply to the show cause notice filed by the petitioner clearly indicated that he effectively replied to each and every allegation made in the show cause notice and he had also responded to allegations, which were stated to be not legible.

Therefore, no prejudice had been caused to the petitioner by the non-supply of legible copies of the said documents which, in any case, were not available to the respondent themselves.

The High Court held that the impugned communication issued by the NCLT didn’t call for any interference and, thus, the instant petition challenging the said communication was to be dismissed.

List of Cases Reviewed

• • Kanwar Natwar Singh v. Director of Enforcement [2010] 7 taxmann.com 85/104 SCL 88 (SC) (para 29) followed.

List of Cases Referred to

• • Kanwar Natwar Singh v. Director of Enforcement [2010] 7 taxmann.com 85/104 SCL 88 (SC) (para 22).