Advocates:
['DEVASHIS PANDA', 'S PANDA', 'G', 'K DAS', '', 'D K MOHAPATRA', 'SARTHAK NAYAK', 'GOPAL AGARWAL']

ORISSA HIGH COURT, CUTTACK

ABLAPL No.8511 of 2020

An application under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

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Suman Chattopadhyay

...….Petitioner

-Versus-

Republic of India.

…… Opp.party

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Advocate(s) who appeared in this case by Video Conferencing mode:

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For Petitioner - M/s. Devashis Panda, S. Panda,

D.K. Mahapatra,

G.K. Das, Advocates.

For Opp.party (CBI) - Mr. Sarthak Nayak,

Advocate

For Opp.party (E.D.) – Mr. Gopal Agarwal,

Advocate

PRESENT:-

THE HON’BLE SHRI JUSTICE SATRUGHANA PUJAHARI

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Date of judgment:- 17.06.2021

S. PUJAHARI, J.

Being apprehensive of his arrest by the C.B.I.

in connection with PMLA Case No.148 of 2019 on the file of

the Special Court under the Prevention of Money-Laundering

Act, 2002 (hereinafter referred to as the “PMLA Act”),

Bhubaneswar

registered

pursuant

to

an

order

of

commitment passed in R.C. Case No.31(S) of 2014-Kol.

under Section 44(1)(c) of the PMLA Act, by the learned

2

Special C.J.M. (CBI), Bhubaneswar, the petitioner has filed

the present application under Section 438 of Cr.P.C. seeking

pre-arrest bail.

2.

Heard

Shri

Debasish

Panda,

learned

counsel

appearing for the petitioner, Shri Sarthak Nayak, learned

counsel appearing for the Republic of India and Shri Gopal

Agarwal, learned counsel appearing for the Enforcement

Directorate.

3.

For the purpose at hand, a brief reference may be

made to the background facts as follows:-

Ponzi Companies, many in number, got flourished in

the Eastern States of India, basically in Odisha, West Bengal,

Assam, Tripura and Bihar, which instigated public through

different schemes, to deposit / invest money, with false

assurance of impressive returns. Being allured by such

lucrative assurance, lacs of gullible depositors parted with

their hard earned money with those ponzi firms, who though

at initial stage paid some returns, later on after collecting

huge amounts of money from public, disappeared from the

scene to the dismay and detriment of the depositors. It is

alleged that those ponzi firms were able to operate their

3

network and duped lacs of gullible depositors, under the

patronage of political and other influential people of the

Society. On the reports of the victims and otherwise, cases

were registered and the Investigating Agencies of the

respective States handled the investigation. However, in

compliance with the order dated 09.05.2014 passed by the

Supreme Court of India in two writ petitions, such as, W.P.

(Civil) No.401 of 2013 and W.P.(Civil) No.413 of 2013, total

forty-four number of such cases were taken over / registered

by the then C.B.I. / S.C. / C.I.T./KOL (now renamed as

C.B.I./EO-IV-Kol.) and the present case, i.e., R.C. 31(S) of

2014 is one amongst those forty-four cases. It may be

mentioned here that the present case had earlier been

registered in Odisha vide EOW/Odisha/BBSR P.S. Case

No.13 dated 06.05.2013 on the basis of a report lodged by

one Rabi Narayan Swain, and the C.B.I. on taking over the

said case registered the same as R.C. 31(S) of 2014 on

05.06.2014 against Sudipta Sen and others of “Saradha

Group of Industries” for the offences under Sections 120-B

read with Sections 406 and 420 of IPC and Sections 4, 5 and

6 of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Scheme (Banning)

4

Act, 1973, and submitted charge-sheet on 13.12.2016 in the

Court of the Special C.J.M. (CBI), Bhubaneswar, under

Section 120-B read with Sections 420 and 409 of IPC and

Sections 4, 5 and 6 of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation

Scheme (Banning) Act, 1973 against Sud