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2014 (3) TMI 97 - DELHI HIGH COURTViolation of FERA - hawala payments - Retracted confession - Unreasonable and excessive penalties for Violation of FERA - Held that:- With the evidence on record clearly pointing to the involvement of BTC and with the involvement of its partners also being demonstrated, there was no error committed by SD in proceeding to hold BTC and its partners guilty of contravention of Sections 9(1)(b)(d) and (f) of the FERA. There was no misapplication of Section 68 of the FERA which, in principle and by analogy, could be extended to contravention by the partnership firms. This is in consonance with Section 25 of the Partnership Act. Once it was established that the illegal acts were committed by the firm itself, then there was no difficulty in applying Section 68 of the FERA. The order of the SD may not have explained the precise basis for arriving at the penalty amount of Rs. 2,00,00,000 imposed on BTC and Rs. 1,00,00,000 each on Mr. Lekh Raj Chopra and Mr. Ramesh Kumar Chopra. However, Section 50 of the FERA does envisage a penalty five times the amount involved in the violation. In the present case, that amount is in excess of Rs. 10,00,00,000 and, therefore, on the basis of the parameters set out in Section 50, it cannot be said that the penalty imposed on BTC and the two Appellants, i.e., Mr. Lekh Raj Chopra and Mr. Ramesh Kumar Chopra is excessive or unreasonable or illegal. The penalty imposed in the order dated 10th April 1986 by the SD did not preclude him, on remand, from determining afresh the penalty amount.
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