The absence of 'proceeds of crime' negates the charge of money-laundering under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002.

JUDGMENT :

1. The issues involved in the instant petitions are akin and analogous to each other and are taken up hereunder for final disposal at this stage with the consent of learned counsel for the parties.

2. Before proceeding to advert to the issues involved in the petition, the brief facts in context of issues involved are briefly detailed hereunder:

A. CRM(M) No. 484/2024.

(i) The petitioners herein are stated to have been working as Chairman and Secretary of a registered Co-operative Society, namely, River Jehlum Co-operative House Building Society (for short "the Society‟), which Society had proposed to develop a satellite township at Shivpora, Srinagar on a big plot of land that was identified by the Society for the said purpose and the said land was proposed to be purchased by the Society from its land owners for the development of the said township.

(ii) In furtherance of the aforesaid proposal, petitioner 1 herein claims to have approached the Jammu and Kashmir State Co-operative Bank (for short "the Bank‟) for grant of financial assistance by way of loan of Rs. 300 crores in favour of the Society for enabling it to acquire the identified land from its owners and its subsequent development for establishment of the satellite township. A detailed project report is claimed to have been prepared and submitted to the Bank for consideration of the case of the Society for grant of loan. It is stated that the petitioner also filed an application to the Government of Jammu and Kashmir for facilitating early consideration of the said loan case. The Bank after considering the financial viability of the project and financial interests of the Bank, is stated to have agreed to finance the project to the extent of Rs. 250 crores and subsequently in the first instance, the Bank released an amount of Rs. 223 crores as loan and directly transferred the same in the accounts of 18 land owners against the land in question measuring 257 Kanal and 18 Marlas covered under Khewat No. 53 in estate Shivpora and the land owners consequently are stated to have executed an irrevocable power of attorney in favour of the petitioner 1 herein, in order to facilitate the transfer of the land in the name of the Society or else the ultimate purchasers of the plots of land therein the said township and the petitioner 1 herein, in turn is stated to have executed a perpetual lease deed qua the said land in favour of the Society through petitioner 2 herein, whereafter the leasehold rights are stated to have got mortgaged with the Bank and the land in question properly laid and marked in the relevant revenue records in favour of the Bank.

(iii) A frivolous investigation is stated to have been initiated in the matter by the Anti Corruption Bureau (for short "ACB‟) after registering FIR No. 4/2020 for commission of offences punishable under Sections 120-B, 420, 467, 471 RPC read with Section 5(2) of J&K Prevention of Corruption Act, wherein the crux of the allegations against the petitioners and other co-accused therein the said FIR was that the petitioners herein had falsely claimed that the Society was a registered Society and succeeded in obtaining a loan of Rs. 250 crores from the Bank on false premise while alleging further that the loan had been sanctioned by the Bank illegally and fraudulently without following the Standard Operating Procedure, proper documentation, KYC norms and also without obtaining tangible security with further allegation that the whole exercise had been undertaken by the petitioners herein at the behest and instance of the then Chairman of the Bank, namely, Mohammad Shafi Dar (petitioner in connected CRM(M) No. 418/2024), who came to be the alleged kingpin in the whole affair, having compromised the interest of the Bank while sanctioning loan in favour of the Society.

(iv) The petitioners herein along with other accused persons therein the FIR (Supra) are stated to have been arrested in connection with the investigation therein the sai