Home Case Index All Cases Money Laundering Money Laundering + HC Money Laundering - 2023 (7) TMI HC This
Forgot password New User/ Regiser ⇒ Register to get Live Demo
2023 (7) TMI 1314 - HC - Money LaunderingSeeking grant of bail - Money Laundering - Conspiracy - proceeds of crime - predicate offence - irregularities in the framing of the Excise Policy - case of Revenue is that petitioner Benoy Babu had prior knowledge of liquor policy 2021 before it was made public which enabled Pernod Ricard to arrange finances even before the public announcement of the policy to create vehicle which was later on used for generating parking and use of proceeds of crime. HELD THAT:- Section 45 of PMLA provides that notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, no person accused of an offence under this Act shall be released on bail or on his own bond unless—(i) the Public Prosecutor has been given an opportunity to oppose the application for such release; and (ii) where the Public Prosecutor opposes the application, the court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail. It is also pertinent to mention here that Section 45 also provides that this condition is in addition to the limitations imposed under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 or any other law for the time being in force on granting of bail. It is settled proposition Section 45 PMLA do not impose an absolute restraint on the grant of bail and the court at this stage is to prima facie consider whether applying the standard of broad probabilities the material against the applicant would result in conviction. The bare reading of Section 3 of PMLA would make it clear if a person is involved in any process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime, including its concealment, possession, acquisition or use and projecting or claiming it as an untainted property shall be guilty of offence of money laundering. Therefore, it is not necessary to attribute section 3 of the PMLA that the alleged person must have acquired or in possession of the proceeds of the crime - The present case is very peculiar in nature and may not have any parallel factual matrix. In brief, the allegation in the predicate offence was that the conspiracy was hatched between the political head and certain persons which included an individual allegedly representing the government with the manufacturer, liquor wholesaler and retailer. The conspiracy allegedly was hatched to introduce a new excise policy to benefit certain individuals who had given advance kickbacks to the AAP. Presently, this court is considering the bail application of the abovesaid accused person namely Mr.Benoy Babu, who was arrested for the offence under Section 3 of the PMLA. For the purpose of clarity Mr.Bonoy Babu was an employee of M/s Pernod Recard. Similarly, the allegations against Benoy Babu, an employee of M/s Pernod Recard is that he was also in a deep conspiracy from the stage of formulation of policy and extended corporate guarantee of 200 crores to enable the other stakeholders to generate the proceeds of crime. It is correct that extending a corporate guarantee per se may not be a crime. However, if it is connected with any activity or process connected with the proceeds of crime, it would inevitably come within the purview of money laundering under section 3 of PMLA. In this regard, a reference can also be made to Vijay Madanlal Chaudhary [2022 (7) TMI 1316 - SUPREME COURT] wherein it has inter alia been held that while construing the expression “and” in Section 3 as “or”, to give full play to the said provision so as to include “every” process or activity indulged into by anyone, including projecting or claiming the property as untainted property to constitute an offence of money-laundering on its own. Further, it was observed by the Ld. Special Judge that the applicant namely Benoy Baby was the signatory in the capacity of attorney of M/s Pernod Ricard to the documents pertaining to the grant of licenses to M/s Indospirit, and it was the applicant/accused who performed all the operations in respect to the appointment of wholesaler, furnishing corporate guarantees. Even though he was not the Director or major shareholder in the M/s Pernod Ricard, it was observed that in terms of the provisions contained under section 70 (2) of the PMLA he is equally liable for the offence of money laundering committed in the present case, apart from the company itself or any of its Directors, Secretaries or other Managers connected with the commission of the said offence, directly or indirectly - Allegedly applicant/accused is further being associated with some other amounts of proceeds of crime and the total proceeds being attributed to him are stated to be around Rs. 563 crores. The accused persons in the present case acting in furtherance of the conspiracy circumvented the policy and got framed the policy in such a manner to continuously generate and channel illegal funds. The allegations are that deliberate loopholes were left to facilitate illegal and criminal activities. There is sufficient material on the record that the petitioner was indulging or knowingly assisting in process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime and it cannot be said that there are reasonable grounds for believing that petitioner is not guilty of such offence and he is not likely to commit any offence well. It was allegedly a well spun conspiracy to generate P.O.C. In such cases every person who is connected with any process or activity relating to P.O.C. cannot avoid his/her responsibility. The allegations are very serious in nature. Bail application dismissed.
|