HC Grants Bail to Petitioner in Money Laundering Case Due to no Evidence Tampering Allegations

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  • Last Updated on 29 May, 2023

Money Laundering Bail

Case Details: Chandra Prakash Khandelwal v. Directorate of Enforcement - [2023] 150 taxmann.com 194 (HC-Delhi)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

    • Yogesh Khanna, J.
    • Dayan Krishnan, Sr. Adv., Manu SharmaNitesh JainAnuj BerryHridhay KhuranaAdrish GuhaShiv JoharShreedhar KaleAbhudaya SharmaSomit Kumar SinghMs Sanjana Mehra, Advs. for the Petitioner.
    • Zoheb Hossain, Spl. Counsel, Vivek GurnaniSiddharth KaushikKavish Garach, Advs. for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

In the instant case, PACL, a real estate company was declared to be running an illegal Collective Investment Schemes (CIS) by SEBI and, thus, culminated into a series of proceedings.

Based on the reference from SEBI, the respondent registered a money laundering case against the petitioner, an investor and non-executive director of company DDPL, alleging that the petitioner’s company received proceeds of crime.

It was also alleged that the petitioner was involved in dealing with the proceeds of the crime. The petitioner was thus, taken into judicial custody. It was noted that the petitioner was cooperating with the respondent.

It was also noted that except petitioner no other accused involved under PMLA was ever arrested by the respondent. Further, the petitioner was a downstream investor of funds and hence, his submission that he did not knowingly become a party to money laundering could not be brushed aside lightly.

Further, there were no allegations of tampering with evidence or influencing witnesses by the petitioner. In fact, all the evidence and information (including digital devices) were in the custody of the respondent and were of a documentary nature.

It was also alleged that the petitioner was illegally arrested and the transactions complained of against the petitioner dated back to the year 2012.

High Court Held

The High Court held that since the petitioner had already undergone custody of about 8 months, the petitioner’s bail application was to be allowed upon the execution of a personal bond of Rs. 25 lakhs with one surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the Trial Court.

List of Cases Referred to

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