Bail Granted to Applicant u/s 45 of PMLA Due to Long Incarceration & Trial Delays, Upon Furnishing Personal Bond | HC

Case Details: Gurupada Maji v. Enforcement Directorate - [2024] 167 taxmann.com 294 (HC-Delhi)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• Ms Jyoti Singh, J.
• N. Hariharan, Sr. Adv., Sumer Singh Boparai, Sidhant Saraswat, Siddharth S. Yadav, Varun Bhati, Ms Srishti Khanna, Mueed Shah, Ms Sneha Bakshiram & Rahul Yadav, Advs. for the Petitioner.
• Anupam S. Sharma, Special Counsel, ED, Prakarsh Airan, Ms Harpreet Kalsi, Abhishek Batra, Ripudaman Sharma, Vashisht Rao & Syamantak Modgill, Advs. for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

In the instant case, an FIR was registered against a person ‘A’ and several other public and private persons, alleging that they were involved in activities related to illegal excavation and theft of coal from the leasehold area of Eastern Coalfield Limited.

The CBI filed a charge sheet against ‘A’ and other accused, including the applicant, and the Special Judge took cognizance of the offences. An ECIR was registered under sections 3 and 4 of the PMLA, 2002.

The prosecution complaint against some co-accused persons was filed, and statements of the applicant were recorded. The applicant was arrested and produced before the Special Judge. Later, the applicant was sent to judicial custody.

It was alleged that the applicant indulged in illegal coal mining and laundering of tainted money, and proceeds generated from scheduled offence were concealed by the acquisition and use of proceeds of crime (POC) by resorting to multi-layered transactions by sham companies.

The applicant then filed an instant bail application seeking regular bail. It was observed that the investigation qua applicant was complete, and the case of ED was primarily based on documentary evidence, which was in the custody of investigating agencies and, hence, could not be tampered with.

High Court Held

The High Court observed that despite stringent requirements under section 45 of PMLA for the grant of bail, twin conditions therein do not create an absolute restraint or embargo or an insurmountable barrier in the way of the Court to grant bail on the grounds of delay in completion of trial and long incarceration.

The High Court held that the applicant was to be granted bail on the touchstone of Article 21 of the Constitution due to his long incarceration and the possibility of trial not concluding in the near future. Therefore, the applicant was to be released on regular bail, subject to his furnishing a personal bond with two sureties of the like amount.

List of Cases Reviewed

• Manish Sisodia v. Directorate of Enforcement, 2024 SCC OnLine SC 1920
• Javed Gulam Nabi Shaikh v. State of Maharashtra and Another, 2024 SCC OnLine SC 1693
• Ankur Chaudhary v. State of Madhya Pradesh, Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No.4648/2024
• Sunil Kumar Agrawal v. Directorate of Enforcement, 2024 SCC OnLine SC 1917, (para 38)
• Sangitaben Shaileshbhai Datanta v. State of Gujarat and Another, (2019) 14 SCC 522
• Bikramjit Singh v. State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi), 2020 SCC OnLine Del 2309
• Jagjeet Singh and Others v. Ashish Mishra alias Monu and Another, (2022) 9 SCC 321, (para 40), followed

List of Cases Referred to

• Rabi Prakash v. State of Odisha 2023 SCC OnLine SC 1109 (para 11), of PMLA exist.
• In State of Kerala v. Raneef (2011) 1 SCC 784 (para 11), days and charge sheet had been filed.
• In Union of India v. K.A. Najeeb (2021) 3 SCC 713 (para 11), general principles of regular bail even relating to economic offences.
• In Satender Kumar Antil v. CBI and Another 2022 SCC OnLine SC 825 (para 12)
• Sanjay Chandra v. CBI (2012) 1 SCC 40 (para 12), It is a well settled proposition that parity is a recognized principle for grant of bail. [Ref.: Kamaljit Singh v. State of Punjab and Another (2005) 7 SCC 226 (para 13), and an ordinary diary. Reliance is also placed for this proposition on CBI v. V.C. Shukla and Others (1998) 3 SCC 410 (para 15)
• Sanjay Jain v. Enforcement Directorate, 2024 SCC OnLine Del 1656 (para 18), applicant is being targeted.
• In R. Vasudevan v. CBI, New Delhi, 2010 SCC OnLine Del 130 (para 20)
• Javed Gulam Nabi Shaikh v. State of Maharashtra and Another 2024 SCC OnLine SC 1693 (para 21)
• Sunil Kumar Agrawal v. Directorate of Enforcement 2024 SCC OnLine SC 1917 (para 21)
• Gautam Thapar v. Directorate of Enforcement 2022 SCC OnLine Del 642 (para 24)
• Satyendar Kumar Jain v. Directorate of Enforcement 2023 SCC OnLine Del 1953 (para 24)
• Tarun Kumar v. Asstt. Director Directorate of Enforcement 2023 SCC OnLine SC 1486 (para 24), right of an accused to speedy trial.
• In State of Rajasthan, Jaipur v. Balchand alias Baliay (1977) 4 SCC 308 (para 39)
• Bikramjit Singh v. State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi) 2020 SCC OnLine Del 2309 (para 40)
• Jagjeet Singh and Others v. Ashish Mishra alias Monu and Another (2022) 9 SCC 321 (para 40).