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2023 (12) TMI 1170 - HC - Money LaunderingSeeking enlargement of petitioner on bail - siphoning of government funds - played an active role in floating shell companies in the said process - HELD THAT:- A perusal of the provision of Section 19 and 45 of PMLA goes to show that the Public Prosecutor has to be given an opportunity to oppose the application for bail, and where the Public Prosecutor opposes the application for bail, duty cast on the Court is that it should be satisfied whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person accused is not guilty of such offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail. The said provision is analogous to Section 37 of the NDPS Act, 1985 - if the Court comes to conclusion that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the person accused is not guilty of such offence and the second condition is that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail. In the aforesaid identical case in Sanjay Raghunath Agarwal’s case [2023 (4) TMI 874 - SUPREME COURT], lodging of the prosecution complaint is sequel to the registration of the FIR in the predicate offence way back in the year 2021. In the present case on hand also, no charge sheet has been filed in the predicate offence for the last more than 15 months. The petitioner has been in jail from 04.03.2023. It is the first offence insofar as the petitioner is concerned. There are no other complaints registered as against him. The said argument gives room to say that second condition in clause (2) of sub-section (1) of Section 45 of the PMLA would be satisfied. In the aforesaid circumstances, continued incarceration of the petitioner, is not justified. In respect of a query raised by the investigating agency, the petitioner herein gave response to each and every question that has been asked for. Prosecution complaint was also filed on 01.05.2023. The petitioner was arrested on 04.03.2023 and since then he is in judicial custody. Time and again, petitioner is continuously attending before the investigating agency and co-operating with the investigation. This Court is of the opinion that it is not necessary to detain the petitioner in jail further. In view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances, this Court feels that request of the petitioner for grant of bail can be considered, however, on certain conditions. The petitioner shall be enlarged on bail on his executing a personal bond for a sum of Rs. 50,000/- with two sureties each for the like sum to the satisfaction of the I Additional Sessions Judge-cum- Metropolitan Sessions Judge, Visakhapatnam. On release, the petitioner shall co-operate with the investigating agency and shall attend before the investigating agency once in a week i.e. on every Friday between 10.00 AM and 5.00 PM. The Criminal Petition is allowed.
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