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IN THE HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR
SHRI JUSTICE ARVIND KUMAR VERMA, J
Anwar Dhebar S/o Late Haji Zikar Dhebar – Appellant
Versus
Directorate Of Enforcement Through-Assistant Director. E.D., RaipurZonal Office (Details Wrongly Mentioned As Assistant Director (Pmla)Directorate Of Enforcement – Respondent
ORDER :
(ARVIND KUMAR VERMA, J.)
By way of present application under Section 483 of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (‘BNSS’) on behalf of the applicant herein, the applicant is seeking grant of regular bail in ECIR/RPZO/04/2024 dated 11.04.2024 for the offence under Section 3 read with Section 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 .
2. Facts of the case in brief are that the applicant was absconding till he was arrested on 06.05.2023 in ECIR/RPZO/11/2022. Search Operation under Section 17 of the PMLA was conducted at his premises and was found hiding at a hotel and he was arrested.
Chhatisgarh State police registered an FIR bearing No. 04/2024 dated 17.01.2024 at EOW/ACB, Raipur under Sections for the offence punishable under Sections 120-B, 420,467,468,471 of IPC and Section 7 & 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Mr. Anil Tuteja (retired IAS) then Joint Secretary in CG State, Anwar Dhebar, Mr. Arunpati Tripathi (ITS) then Special Secretary, Government of Commerce and industry Department and MD CG State Marketing Corporation Ltd. Mr. Vikas Agarwal @ Subbu, Mr. Sanjay Diwan and Others for collecting commissions and supplying unaccounted liquor to gover
The court held that the seriousness of economic offences under the PMLA necessitates stringent bail conditions, emphasizing that prolonged incarceration does not automatically warrant bail if substan....
The court emphasized that in economic offences, especially under the PMLA, bail should not be granted unless the accused demonstrates they are not guilty and unlikely to commit further offences.
The court held that the applicant failed to satisfy the twin conditions for bail under Section 45 of the PMLA, 2002, due to the serious nature of the allegations and the evidence presented.
Bail is the rule and jail is the exception, especially in serious economic offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, where the gravity of charges necessitates stringent scrutiny.
The court emphasized that bail under the PMLA requires satisfaction of twin conditions regarding the accused's guilt and likelihood of committing further offences, which were not met in this case.
In economic offences, bail is not a right; the burden rests on the applicant to show no risk of interference with justice or likelihood of guilt, reinforced by the position of the accused.
The right to a speedy trial is fundamental under Article 21, and prolonged incarceration without trial infringes on this right, warranting bail despite serious allegations.
The court emphasized the right to a speedy trial and liberty, allowing bail under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after 15 months of custody, citing no likelihood of trial commencement.
The court held that the majority of funds alleged as proceeds of crime were received before the predicate offence, thus the conditions for bail under Section 45 of the PMLA were not met, allowing bai....
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