The court held that in the absence of a Scheduled Offence under the PMLA, personal liberty is paramount, allowing for anticipatory bail due to the lack of substantial allegations against the accused.

JUDGMENT :

NEENA BANSAL KRISHNA, J.

1. Bail Application under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as "Cr.P.C’) has been filed on behalf of the Applicant, Prabir Purkayastha seeking Anticipatory Bail in ECIR bearing ECIR/14/HIU/2020 dated 02.09.2020 under Section 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (hereinafter referred to as "ECIR‟).

2. The Applicant submits that he is a respectable and law-abiding citizen of India having deep roots in the Society and is residing with his Partner. He is a reputed journalist and is also a Director of M/s PPK Newsclick Studio Pvt. Ltd., a law-abiding corporate entity incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013, which owns and operates “newsclick.in” set up in 2009, one of the most popular and reputed digital media platforms in the country as well as abroad.

3. The expertise of the Applicant in various issues relating to industry and technology, has also been recognised by the Government of India. He has been a member of the National Steering Committee, ASTeC Programme as well as a Member of the Expert Group on Industrial Application, both of which are convened under the aegis of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India. He has published several scholarly Articles in various National and International Publications in thefield of Engineering, Software Technology, Energy Policy and other social issues.

4. The Newsclick was controlled by a Trust, namely, the Newsclick India Trust and later from the year 2015, a Limited Liability Partnership i.e. M/s PP Newsclick Studio LLP. With an intent to receive investment to allow the LLP to grow and expand, an Agreement dated 01.05.2017 was entered between M/s PP Newsclick Studio LLP and M/s BGJC Associates LLP. Further, to enable a smooth inflow of future investment, a decision was taken by M/s PP Newsclick Studio LLP, to convert the LLP into a private Limited Company, which was done on 03.06.2017.

5. The Company was approached for FDI and ultimately, an entity by the name of M/s Worldwide Media Holdings LLC (hereinafter referred to as "WWMH’) invested the shares of the said Company as FDI.

6. WWMH was incorporated on 29.11.2017 as a Limited Liability Corporation in USA. During this time, when the possibility of investment by WWMH in the Company was being discussed, the Applicant wanted to confirm the regulatory regime around the receipt of FDI by a Company engaged in the Digital Media business, to ensure any regulatory regime is fully complied with.

7. The Applicant addressed a Letter dated 20.12.2017, to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting requesting for a clarification to the FDI Policy. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting gave a Reply dated 05.01.2018 clarified that “online publications on website/web portal do not fall under the ambit of print media.”

8. Thus, in accordance with the terms of the Agreement dated 01.05.2017, M/s BGJC and Associates LLP submitted a valuation Report dated 28.02.2018 wherein the shares of the Company were valued at Rs.9188 per share. The Independent valuers also issued a Certificate dated 05.02.2018 certifying that the fair value of the equity shares of the Company may be taken as Rs.9188 per share having face value of Rs.10 each. This valuation was a legal requirement for the investment by foreign entity into shares of an Indian entity, in te