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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
SUJIT NARAYAN PRASAD
Nagwant Pandey – Appellant
Versus
Union of India through Directorate of Enforcement, Ranchi – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
SUJIT NARAYAN PRASAD, J.
Prayer
1. The instant application has been filed under Sections 4 83 and 484 of BNSS for grant of regular bail to the petitioner, in connection with ECIR Case No.03 of 2023, registered for alleged offence under Section 3 and 70 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PML Act 2002) punishable under Section 4 of Act, 2002, pending in the Court of Special Judge, P.M.L. Act, Ranchi.
Factual matrix
2. The prosecution case in brief is that investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 was initiated against the petitioner by recording ECIR No. ECIR/05/PAT/2012 dated 13.03.2012 against the applicant/petitioner and other co-accused on the basis of information received from FIR No. RC-19(A)/09-R dated22.10.2009 registered by CBI, ACB, Ranchi.
3. Subsequently, the chargesheet has been filed by the investigating agency under the various Sections which are covered under the definition of scheduled offence in terms of Section 2 (1) (y) of PMLA.
4. It has been alleged that co-accused Mahesh Mehra, Nagwant Pandey (petitioner) and their corporation/firms have entered into criminal conspiracy with others through M/s Kaushalya Infrastructure Develo
The court highlighted that under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, bail can be granted only if the accused is shown to be not guilty and not likely to commit further offenses.
The offence of money laundering under the PMLA is independent, and involvement in proceeds of crime suffices for liability; stringent conditions for bail must be met.
The court established that under the PMLA, an accused can be convicted for money laundering even if not formally accused in the predicate offense, emphasizing the independent and serious nature of ec....
The court emphasized that under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, bail can only be granted if there are reasonable grounds to believe the accused is not guilty, which was not established in thi....
The offence of money laundering under PMLA is independent of underlying scheduled offences; involvement in any process related to proceeds of crime suffices for liability under Section 3.
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....
(1) Grant of bail – Consideration of two conditions mentioned in Section 45 is mandatory and while considering bail application, rigours of Section 45 have to be reckoned by court to uphold objective....
The conditions for granting bail under Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, are mandatory, requiring the court to be satisfied that the accused is not guilty and is not likely ....
The court emphasized that in money laundering cases, the burden is on the accused to prove absence of mens rea, and economic crimes warrant stricter scrutiny in bail considerations.
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