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2015 (8) TMI 1112 - AT - FEMAMoney laundering - res judicata in the criminal complaint - Attachment of property - appellant admitted that property is not owned by her but by the company - Held that:- The action of attachment is not in relation to a person as such but essentially to freeze the proceeds of the crime. The fact that the respondents could have acted only if there was reason to believe that a person is in possession of proceeds of crime does not mean that the authorities at this stage are obliged to prove the fact beyond reasonable doubt that the property in possession in fact was proceeds of crime. All that the authority is required to show is that there was “substantially probable cause” to form an opinion that the property under attachment is proceeds of crime. Perusal of Chapter III of PMLA also reveals that the orders passed under it are interlocutory in nature and such order do not decide finally whether an offence has been committed by an accused under Section 3 of the Act for Money Laundering nor such orders passed under said chapter decide what punishment is to be imposed on such accused for money laundering. Any observation made while passing orders under said chapter are not the findings for the purpose of alleged offense committed under Section 3 nor observations are the findings in the Criminal matters pending against such accused. It is also well settled that the principle of res judicata does not apply to interlocutory orders like order of stay, injunction or appointment of receiver which are designed to preserve the status quo pending litigation to ensure that the parties may not be prejudiced but the normal delay which the proceedings before the Court usually take. On the basis of the observation made in the impugned order, the appellant cannot be convicted and sentenced in the criminal cases. - Appeal disposed of.
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