A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Mohali has convicted former Indian Air Force staffer Dara Singh and former Haryana DSP Gurdarshan Singh in a money-laundering case arising from the seizure of 1.230 kg cocaine in 2008 and sentenced both to three-year rigorous imprisonment.
Special judge under PMLA Hardip Singh also imposed a fine of ₹5,000 each on the two convicts in the judgment pronounced on September 3, 17 years after the PMLA case was registered in 2009.
The court held that the cocaine recovered in the scheduled offence and two cheques issued by Dara Singh to Gurdarshan Singh formed “proceeds of crime” under the PMLA. The cheques were for ₹6 lakh and ₹4 lakh, taking their total value to ₹10 lakh.
The case originated with FIR number 63, dated August 28, 2008, registered at the Sohana police station under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act after police recovered 1.230 kg cocaine.
The court noted that Dara Singh was convicted under Section 22 of the NDPS Act, while Gurdarshan Singh was convicted under Section 29 in the scheduled offence. Both were sentenced to 12-year rigorous imprisonment and fined ₹1 lakh each in 2015.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) also recorded an enforcement case information report on October 20, 2009, and investigated the money-laundering angle. During the investigation, it obtained records relating to the two cheques recovered from Gurdarshan Singh.
{{/usCountry}}The Enforcement Directorate (ED) also recorded an enforcement case information report on October 20, 2009, and investigated the money-laundering angle. During the investigation, it obtained records relating to the two cheques recovered from Gurdarshan Singh.
{{/usCountry}}The PMLA court noted that the cheques were issued by Dara Singh in connection with the purchase of the cocaine. It held that the cheques were property arising from the criminal activity in the scheduled offence and therefore fell within the definition of proceeds of crime.
The court rejected the defence argument that the cocaine could not be treated as proceeds of crime because the prosecution had not established any drug-money transaction. It relied on Supreme Court and high court judgments while holding that the definition of property under the PMLA covers tangible and intangible property.
The court convicted both under Section 4 of the PMLA, which penalises the offence defined under Section 3. The court directed that the period of detention already undergone by the convicts be set off against their sentences.
The judgment records that Dara Singh told the court he had served 29 years in the Indian Air Force and retired as a junior warrant officer. He claimed he had been falsely implicated and denied possessing or acquiring proceeds of crime.