Provisional Attachment Orders must have justified legal grounding, requiring explicit evidence of connections to alleged criminal activity, and prior judicial conclusions limit enforcement authority actions.

JUDGMENT :

1. This writ petition is filed to declare the Provisional Attachment Order No.09/2023 dated 21.04.2023 passed by the Directorate of Enforcement provisionally attaching the Fixed Deposits of the petitioner to the tune of and initiation of Original Complaint vide OC No.1978 of 2023 before the Adjudicating Authority and show cause notice dated 26.05.2023 issued by the Adjudicating Authority to the petitioner under Section 8 (1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) Act, 2002, being illegal, arbitrary, contrary to the provision of the PMLA and in violation of Articles 19, 21 and 300-A of the Constitution of India.

2. The case of the petitioner, in brief, is that it is a private limited company incorporated with Registrar of Companies, Pune in the name by name M/s. Design Tech Systems Private Limited in the year 1998. The State Government of Andhra Pradesh incorporated AP State Skill Development Corporation vide G.O. Ms. No.47(HE) (EC A2). The said development corporation, Siemens Industry Software India Private Limited (for short 'SIS') and the petitioner entered into tripartite agreement to set up six (06) clusters across different locations in the State of Andhra Pradesh for imparting skill training to the people to produce trained manpower in the State. Out of the total project cost, the petitioner and SIS have to bear 90% in the form of 'in kind grant' and the remaining 10% of the project cost was to be borne by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. According to the said agreement, the Government of AP released the total amount of Rs.371 crores for execution of the project. Thereafter, the project started in full swing and the petitioner set up six (06) centers of Excellence and 34 Technical Skill Development Institutes and had trained over 2.13 lakh students through above clusters. Upon the complaint of the Chairman, APSSDC alleging certain discrepancies in the project, a FIR Bearing No.29/2021 dated 09.12.2021 of CID PS, Amaravathi, Mangalagiri was registered against the then MD & CEO of APSSDC and others including the petitioner under Sections 166 , 167, 418, 420, 465, 468, 471, 409, 201, 109 read with 120(B) IPC and Section 13 (2) read with 13(1)(c) and (d) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. During the course of investigation in the above said FIR, the investigating agency vide Notice dated 29.12.2021 under Section 102 CrPC had frozen the petitioner's current bank account bearing No.38036630496 maintained at SBI, Pune Branch. The application preferred by the petitioner vide Crl. MP No.55 of 2022 under Sections 451 and 457 CrPC to defreeze the said bank account, was allowed by the learned Trial Judge by directing the SBI to convert the amount of Rs.23,29,77,675/- lying in the bank account into a Fixed Deposit for a term of one year and directed to defreeze the bank account by allowing the petitioner to operate the said bank account. Thereafter, on 21.04.2023, the 3rd respondent-The Deputy Director of Directorate of Enforcement, passed the impugned Provisional Attachment Order (for short, 'PAO') attaching the FDs of the petitioner to the tune of Rs.31,20,31,403/- and basing on the said PAO, the 4th respondent-Adjudicating authority, without applying its independent judicial mind proceeded to issue the show-cause notice dated 21.05.2023 to the petitioner, by committing a glaring jurisdictional error. The impugned PAO is the second attachment order passed with respect of the same property, w