E-Paper
PMLA case: HC seeks ED response on Punjab MLA Gajjanmajra’s plea
The plea argues that the petitioner was ‘illegally’ arrested without compliance of safeguards in Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act
The Punjab and Haryana high court has sought response from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on a plea from AAP MLA Jaswant Singh Gajjanmajra, arrested in a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case.
High court bench of justice Arun Palli and justice Vikram Aggarwal has sought response from the ED by November 30.
Gajjanmajra, 60, was arrested by the ED in connection with a ₹40 crore bank fraud case on November 6. He is among seven people and companies named in the case.
The plea said he is a guarantor and erstwhile director in the company, Malaudh Agro Limited, and resigned in February 2016. The petitioner had no role to play in the day-to-day functioning of the company, was not involved in the working of the company in any manner and currently stood only as a guarantor for the loans availed by the company, it added.
The plea argues that the petitioner was ‘illegally’ arrested without compliance of safeguards in Section 19 of the PMLA. An order recording the reasons to believe that the petitioner is guilty of the offence under the PMLA was not passed, the plea said. Even with the remand application, no such order has been annexed, the plea said adding that in the absence of any such order, it cannot be said that the arresting officer formed the mandatory reason, as held by the apex court, to believe, prior to the arrest.
In September 2022, an ED team had raided Gajjanmajra’s house, besides a school and a cattle feed factory run by his family in Amargarh.
The ED had registered the PMLA case against him after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had searched his properties in connection with a ₹40.92-crore bank fraud case last year. A sum of ₹16.57 lakh, 88 foreign currency notes and incriminating documents were recovered during the searches, the CBI had claimed.
