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2023 Supreme(Del) 2228
IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Satish Chandra Sharma, Subramonium Prasad, JJ.
Vikas Verma – Appellant
Versus
State Govt. of NCT of Delhi & Ors. – Respondents
W.P.(Cr) 2577 of 2021 & Cr.M.A. 20788 of 2021, 8015 of 2022, 17754 of 2022, 24171 of 2022, 24207 of 2022
Decided On : 28-03-2023
Mr. Darpan Wadhwa, Senior Advocate with Mr. Sunil Dalal, Senior Advocate along with Ms. Zeba Khair, Ms. Nimita Kaul, Ms. Shivambika, Ms. Nikita and Ms. Manisha Saroha, Advocates, for the Petitioner.
Mr. Sabarwal, Impleador in person.
Ms. Nandita Rao, ASC (Crl) for the State with Mr. Amit Peswani, Advocate.
Mr. Abhimanyu Bhandari, Ms. Roohe Hina Dua, Ms. Ananya Sikri, Mr. Akarsh Sharma, Advocates for R-3 to R-5 & R-7 to R-14.
Dr. Harsh Pathak, Mrs. Shaveta Mahajan, Mr. Mohit Choubey, Mr. Sidharth Shukla, Advocates for R-17.
Mr. Jatin Sehgal, Ms. Devna Soni, Mr. Ashish Garg, Ms. Ojaswini Rohatagi, Advocates for R-19.
Mr. Atul Nanda, Senior Advocate with Mr. Martand Singh, Ms. Vartika Aggarwal, Ms. Shivani Luthra, Advocates for R-20 to R-23.
Mr. Vivek Goyal, CGSPC with Mr. Gokul Sharma, Advocate for UOI/SFIO with Mr. Hemant Tyagi, IO, SFIO and Ms. Sonam Sharma. Mr. Anupam S. Sharma, Special Counsel for ED with Mr. Prakarsh Airan, Ms. Harpreet Kalsi and Mr. Abhishek Batra, Advocates. SI Dharm Singh, PS Hauz Khas.
The court's emphasis on the conclusion of the investigation by Investigating Agencies as a central legal point.
Headnote:
Fraud - Investigation into Offences under IPC, FEMA, PMLA, and Companies Act - [Indian Penal Code, 1860, Sections 405, 406, 415, 417, 418, 421, 422, 423, 424, 120B], [Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999], [Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002], [Companies Act, 2013, Section 212]
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner filed a writ petition alleging diversion and siphoning off of funds by the IREO Group of Companies. The petitioner sought investigation into the alleged fraudulent Bhiwadi Land Transaction under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, FEMA, PMLA, and Companies Act.
Finding of the Court:
The court noted ongoing investigations by the Economic Offences Wing, Enforcement Directorate, and Serious Fraud Investigation Office. The court emphasized the need for Investigating Agencies to conclude the investigation and bring it to a logical conclusion at an early date.
Issues: Alleged diversion and siphoning off of funds by the IREO Group of Companies, failure of authorities to investigate the alleged fraudulent Bhiwadi Land Transaction.
Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized the need for Investigating Agencies to conclude the investigation and bring it to a logical conclusion at an early date.
Final Decision: The Writ Petition is disposed of, with liberty granted to the Petitioner to approach the Court if need arises in the future.
JUDGMENT
Satish Chandra Sharma, C.J.
1. The instant Writ Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been filed with the following prayers:
"a) Pass a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction directing Respondent No. 2/ ED to investigate in a time bound manner, the various offences committed by Respondent Nos. 3 to 15 and other unknown accused persons under the provisions of Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 in relation to the alleged purchase of development rights by Respondent No. 5/ IPL in land parcel admeasuring 78 acres in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan for a consideration of INR 396 Crores;
b) Direct Respondent No. 16/SFIO to specifically investigate the fraudulent Bhiwadi Land Transaction and to extend the scope of investigation under Order No. 3/404/2018-CL-II (NR) dated 13.09.2019 to include connected parties and to file final report before this Hon'ble Court after completing the investigation in a time bound manner; the copy of the order dated 13.09.2019 is not provided with us;
c) Pass a writ, order or direction for freezing of all assets of Respondent Nos. 3 to 15 and restraining them, their agents, directors, shareholders, heirs, employees or assigns, from selling, transferring, alienating or in any manner encumbering their assets, including any inter-corporate shares or investments held by them; or
d) Pass a writ, order or direction to Respondent No. 2/ ED for freezing of all assets of Respondent Nos. 3 to 15 and restraining them, their agents, directors, shareholders, heirs, employees or assigns, from selling, transferring, alienating or in any manner encumbering their assets, including any inter- corporate shares or investments held by them;
e) Direct Respondent Nos. 3 to 15 to deposit with this Hon'ble Court, sum of INR 396 Crores along with interest at 18% which has been siphoned off from Respondent No. 5/IPL;
f) Monitor the investigations conducted by Respondent Nos. 1, 2 and 16 to ensure that it is fair, unbiased and impartial;
(g) pass any other or further orders as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper under the facts and circumstances of the present case and in the interests of justice and equity."
2. Facts of the case reveal that the Petitioner herein booked a Managed Service Apartment, being Apartment No. ICC-MSA-RS12-03 in Ascott Ireo City Gurgaon Project (Ascott Project) being developed in Sector 59, Gurugram by IREO Private Limited (IPL)/Respondent No. 5.The Petitioner states that he, along with other homebuyers who had invested in the said project, have not been handed over their houses as assured by Respondent No. 5. It is the Petitioner's apprehension that the money invested by these homebuyers, which was meant to be utilised for completion of projects is being diverted and siphoned off by Respondent No. 3 (Mr. Lalit Goya, VC & MD of IREO Group), Respondent No. 4 (Ms. Sapna Goyal, spouse of Respondent No. 3) and Respondent Nos.6 to 15 (which are companies owned or controlled by the promoters of IREO Group) under the garb of land transactions. The Petitioner has filed the present writ petition in the nature of a public interest litigation against one such alleged land transaction, namely the "Bhiwadi Land Transaction". It is the Petitioner's case that the Economic Offences Wing (EoW) of the Delhi Police/Respondent No. 1, the Enforcement Directorate (ED)/Respondent No. 2 and the Serious Fraud Investigating Office (SFIO)/Respondent No. 16 have failed to perform their duty of investigating into these allegations.
3. For a better understanding of the case at hand, the Petitioner herein as provided the structure of the IREO Group of Companies which is as under:
a. It is stated that two companies by the names of IREO Fund-II Ltd. and IREO Fund II Co-Investment-1 Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "IREO Fund Companies") were incorporated in Mauritius and received an investment of around UDF 1.6 Billion between 2004-2009. These IREO Fund Compani
