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2023 (2) TMI 948 - DELHI HIGH COURTProvisional attachment order - Money Laundering - scheduled offences or not - Petitioner was not arrayed as an accused and was merely a lender to M/s Omkar Realtors and Developers Pvt. Ltd. HELD THAT:- A perusal of the impugned PAO in the present case shows that the origin of the said PAO is an FIR No. 109/2020 which was registered in the PS: City Chowk, Aurangabad, Maharashtra under Sections 420, 406 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 - A perusal of the order dated 18th October, 2022 passed by the Special Court under PMLA, Greater Bombay shows that M/s Omkar Realtors and Developers Private Limited which was arrayed as A-2, to whom the Petitioner had extended credit facility for the construction of the ‘Worli Project’, has also been discharged. Owing to this connection, the assets of the Petitioner were attached. The Supreme Court in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary & Ors. v. UOI & Ors., [[2022 (7) TMI 1316 - SUPREME COURT]], has categorically held that when the accused person has been discharged/acquitted in the scheduled offence or the criminal case against the accused person has been quashed, there can be no offence of money laundering against the accused person. Further, in the said judgement it has also been stated that no offence of money laundering can be made out against any person having property linked to the person accused in the scheduled offence. Therefore, in the event that the accused person is discharged in the PMLA case itself, the impugned PAO and the attachment of such property linked to the accused person, from the said PAO, deserves to be quashed. 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. This position of law in terms of proceedings under the PMLA has been recently considered by this Court in EMTA Coal Limited and Ors. v. The Deputy Director of Directorate of Enforcement, [[2023 (1) TMI 694 - DELHI HIGH COURT]]. In the said judgement it was held that once the closure report in the offences under respective FIRs has been filed, no criminality is ascertainable and the respective PAOs as well as the ECIRs are liable to be quashed. After hearing all the ld. Counsels for the parties and considering the judgements of the Supreme Court as also this Court, the Court is clearly of the opinion that the impugned PAOs against the properties of Piramal cannot continue as the Petitioner was not arrayed as an accused and was merely a lender to M/s Omkar Realtors and Developers Pvt. Ltd. (ORDPL). Accordingly, the flats which were attached by the ED, as extracted in Table No. 9 extracted above are thus, released. Petition disposed off.
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