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2023 (2) TMI 1031 - HC - Money LaunderingProvisional Attachment Order - scheduled offences or not - the proceedings against the Petitioner, its directors, and shareholders in the scheduled offense as also the offense under the PMLA have been closed.- HELD THAT:- In Vijay Madanlal Choudhary [2022 (7) TMI 1316 - SUPREME COURT], the Supreme Court has in categorical terms held that for the existence of ‘proceeds of crime’ under Section 2(1)(u) of the PMLA, the existence of a criminal complaint pending enquiry and/or trial would be necessary. Further, if the person in question has been finally discharged or acquitted of the scheduled/predicate offence, there can be no offence of money laundering against the said person. In Parvathi Kollur v. Enforcement Directorate [2022 (8) TMI 1256 - SC ORDER], the Supreme Court also specifically referred to the paragraph as mentioned above in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary and held that when the accused person has been acquitted in the scheduled offence under the PMLA, the closure of the proceedings under the PMLA against the accused person and persons said to connected to the accused person would be the natural consequence. The Supreme Court in Indrani Patnaik & Anr. v. Enforcement Directorate and Ors. [2022 (11) TMI 1311 - SUPREME COURT] has recently held that there cannot be any prosecution in relation to an offence for which the accused person has already been discharged. In view of the settled legal position in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary and the subsequent decisions and orders thereafter, the properties of M/s Omkar Realtors and Developers Pvt. Ltd., which were attached by the impugned PAO, shall be released. The PAO deserves to be quashed in view of the legal position as held in the above judgments - Petition disposed off.
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