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Tribunal tells ED to release 14cr assets attached in 2016 demonetisation case

Apr 26, 2024 02:37 PM IST

ED attached assets worth ₹14.69 crores under PMLA in 2017 belonging to the accused who facing allegations of unauthorised currency conversion

MUMBAI: A PMLA Appellate Tribunal recently ordered the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to release 14 crore assets attached in 2017 on money laundering charges in connection with the much-publicised seizure of new currency notes from 15 bank lockers after the abrupt demonetisation of 1,000 and 500 currency notes in 2016.

The Pune office of CBI, which probed the original case, failed to crack the case and requested the special CBI court to close the case in 2019. (FILE PHOTO/PTI via Mint)
The Pune office of CBI, which probed the original case, failed to crack the case and requested the special CBI court to close the case in 2019. (FILE PHOTO/PTI via Mint)

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe was ordered against a private firm, Worldwide Oilfield Machine Pvt. Ltd, and others soon after the income tax department found new currency notes in the bank lockers to investigate the complicity of bank officers who helped the firm exchange the outlawed currency notes.

The Pune office of CBI, which probed the original case, could not crack the case and requested the special CBI court to close the case in 2019.

After the CBI court accepted the agency’s request, a designated Mumbai court to hear cases registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act also discharged the private firm and its officials in August last year.

“The closure report filed by CBI, Pune and accepted by the special judge clearly indicates that there is no scheduled offence nor any case relating to it. Therefore, the question of involvement of the present applicants in any criminal activity relating to the scheduled offence does not arise,” the PMLA court said.

ED initiates prosecution under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) predicated on a base FIR registered by any law enforcement agency to probe the cases of money laundering related to the proceeds of crime.

If the base FIR is quashed or the accused is exonerated of the charges, ED cannot continue its probe under PMLA, the Supreme Court held in its 2022 judgment in the Vijay Madanlal Chaudhary & Others v Union of India case.

An official said the provisional attachment in the case had been confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority under PMLA after which the accused challenged the order before the Appellate Tribunal. The tribunal noted that the appellants had been skipping the hearings.

“Accordingly, the present appeals are hearby dismissed for non-prosecution. However, respondent ED is directed to release the properties of those appellants who are already discharged, acquitted or closure report is filed and PMLA case is also closed,” member Rajesh Malhotra said in his April 1 order.

As part of its probe in March 2017, ED provisionally attached assets worth 14.69 crores under PMLA provisions belonging to the accused who were then facing allegations of unauthorised currency conversion after demonetisation.

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