JUDGMENT :

MOHAN M. SHANTANAGOUDAR, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. These appeals arise out of judgment dated 6.01.2020 in Crl. A. Nos. 1089, 1090 and 1091 of 2007 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Madras ("High Court"). Since they involve common facts and question of law, appeal arising out of S.L.P. (Crl.) No. 5102 of 2020 shall be taken as the leading case.

3. The brief facts leading to this appeal are as follows:

3.1 The Appellant/Accused No. 1 was working as Regional Manager (South) at Chennai with the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd. On 4.01.2001 case was registered against the Appellant under Section 120B read with Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 ("IPC"); and Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 ("PC Act"). Subsequently, the officers of the Respondent investigative agency conducted search at the Appellant's residence on 24.01.2001 on the basis of search warrant issued by the Special Judge, Tis Hazari Court, New Delhi. During the course of this search, an amount of Rs. 79,65,900/- ("seized currency"), in addition to jewellery and property papers, was seized from the Appellant's residence. Since these assets were