TMI Blog2023 (3) TMI 1277X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ating into the matter. All minute details have been filed in the status report - The facts further reveal that the status report of Directorate of Enforcement also reveals that the cases were registered under the PMLA and the investigation under the PMLA is going on. Therefore, this Court is of the considered opinion that Investigating Agencies are proceeding ahead with the matter to bring it to the logical conclusion. This Court, in the interest of justice, is of the opinion that the Investigating Agencies deserve a command to conclude the investigation and bring it to a logical conclusion at an early date keeping in view the totality of the circumstances of the case and especially the fact that the investigation is already underway by different agencies, this Court is not inclined to pass any further order in the matter. The Writ Petition is disposed of. - W.P.(CRL) 2577/2021 & CRL.M.A. 20788/2021, 8015/2022, 17754/2022, 24171/2022, 24207/2022 - - - Dated:- 28-3-2023 - HON BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE SATISH CHANDRA SHARMA AND HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SUBRAMONIUM PRASAD For the Petitioner Through: Mr. Darpan Wadhwa, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Sunil Dalal, Sr. Advocate along w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Pass a writ, order or direction to Respondent No. 2 / ED for freezing of all assets of Respondent Nos. 3 to 15 and restraining them, their agents, directors, shareholders, heirs, employees or assigns, from selling, transferring, alienating or in any manner encumbering their assets, including any inter-corporate shares or investments held by them; e) Direct Respondent Nos. 3 to 15 to deposit with this Hon ble Court, sum of INR 396 Crores along with interest at 18% which has been siphoned off from Respondent No. 5 / IPL; f) Monitor the investigations conducted by Respondent Nos. 1, 2 and 16 to ensure that it is fair, unbiased and impartial; (g) pass any other or further orders as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper under the facts and circumstances of the present case and in the interests of justice and equity. 2. Facts of the case reveal that the Petitioner herein booked a Managed Service Apartment, being Apartment No. ICC-MSA-RS12-03 in Ascott Ireo City Gurgaon Project (Ascott Project) being developed in Sector 59, Gurugram by IREO Private Limited (IPL)/Respondent No. 5.The Petitioner states that he, along with other homebuyers who had invested in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to purchase land in various parts of India and it is on these lands that the IREO Group would offer to build real estate projects. d. Relationship between the parties has been described as under: 4. It is stated that Respondent Nos. 6 to 15 are Land Owning Companies belonging to the IREO Group, which were given a sum of Rs. 396 Crores by Respondent No. 5 for acquiring development rights in respect of a land parcel admeasuring 78 acres in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan. The said transaction (Bhiwadi Land Transaction), is nothing but a sham and bogus transaction for diverting money belonging to the homebuyers to Respondent Nos. 6 to 15. It is also stated that the said transaction has been written off by Respondent No. 5 in its books. The Petitioner alleges that this transaction constitutes offences under Sections 405, 406, 415, 417, 418, 421, 422, 423, 424 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC), offences under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA), Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) and Section 212 of the Companies Act, 2013. 5. The Petitioner has alleged fraud on the part of Respondent Nos. 3-15 in the Bhiwadi Land Transact ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... are private close entities and have no relation with each other or IREO Group. d. The Petitioner has also relied upon an MOU dated 10.12.2011, which has allegedly been executed between Respondent No. 5 and Respondent Nos. 6 to 15, as per which the development work on the Bhiwadi Land must be completed within 36 months from date of commencement of construction but has not been done, even after 10 years have passed. e. In the alleged Bhiwadi Land Transaction, valued at Rs. 396 Crores, it is stated that Rs. 385 Crores have been written off and Respondent Nos. 6-15 have failed to make proper disclosures. This was justified on the basis of valuation reports procured by Respondent No. 5 from one Recherche India Advisors LLP. It is stated that in 2013, the valuation report hailed the Bhiwadi Land development rights as an asset that would attract investors in an year, however in 2014, the value was impaired by over 189 crores, and further impaired by Rs. 234.21 Cr in 2015 and again impaired by Rs. 385.36 Cr in 2017. The Petitioner states that these valuation reports have been concocted to support the criminal conspiracy to misappropriate the monies invested. f. The Petition ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s stated that the Complaint No. C-1962/DCP/EOW dated 17.11.2021 Dy. No. 9833/DCP/EOW dated 12.11.2021 by the Petitioner were received by the EOW to South District vide Dy. No. 11586 dated 30.11.2021 and was assigned to Police Station Malviya Nagar vide Dy. No. 1461-CMTS dated 09.12.2021. The said complaint was received by PS Hauz Khas from PS Malviya Nagar on 06.01.2022. As per the Status Report filed, the process of preliminary enquiry is still going on and during the course of enquiry, the complainant was contacted however no response was received from him. The site/property in question has also been inspected by Respondent No. 1 and it was found that interior work in the units at Ascott Project are still ongoing and construction work had not been completed. Respondent No. 1 states that the fate of the complaint filed by the Petitioner can only be ascertained after a proper and detailed enquiry into the matter and adequate time is required for the same. 11. A status report dated 25.01.2022 has been filed by Respondent No. 2/Enforcement Directorate. As per the Status Report, Mr. Lalit Goyal is already in judicial custody to face trial before Special Court (PMLA), Panchkula whi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... take recourse to civil remedies. Similarly, one Col. Sanjeev Dhawan has filed W.P.(CRL.) 679/2020 before this Court seeking directions to the SFIO to attach the assets of the Ireo Group Companies and the personal properties of its Directors and the said Writ Petition was disposed of by this Court vide Order dated 11.03.2020 by observing as under: 12. Having stated the above, it is apparent from the averments made in the present petition that there are serious allegations regarding siphoning of funds. In view of the above, SFIO is required to examine whether a forensic audit is required to be conducted into the affairs of the Ireo Group of Companies. If the concerned officer is of the view that such an audit is required to be conducted SFIO shall forthwith take steps, if not already done, for conducting a forensic audit of the companies. However, in the event the officer is of the view that no such forensic audit is necessary, he shall record his reasons for taking such a view. This Court does not consider it apposite to issue any directions in this regard as it is expected that SFIO shall conduct the enquiries/investigation and take all such necessary steps that it is require ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... vt Limited 19 other IREO group companies. 2. The above mentioned 20 Companies are part of Ireo Group of Companies and were incorporated for carrying-out the construction and development of Real Estate activities in India by raising funds from abroad primarily Mauritius and Singapore, coinciding with the fact that in the year 2005 Foreign Direct Investment in development and construction Sector was permitted by Government of India. 3. Ireo Group of Companies have outstanding advances of Rs.2,700 crore to home buyers collected for booking of flats/plots/apartments and outstanding loans of Rs.2,800 crore from Banks Financial Institutions (BFIs). 4. Ireo Group of Companies have diverted funds to the tune of around Rs.1,000 crore the advances collected from home buyers and funds borrowed from banks and financial institutions to foreign companies based in Mauritius in the name of buy back of shares and to other companies. The funds to the tune of around Rs.200 crore was misutilized and siphoned off through abnormally high purchase value of land development rights. 5. Ireo Group of Companies have not delivered the projects to home buyers and defaulted in repayment ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t Written off Cumulative Amount Development cost written off- Bhiwadi 2012-13 (41,30,00,000) (41,30,00,000) 2013-14 (88,91,50,000) (1,30,21,50,000) land (Impairment In valuation) 2014-15 (1,04,00,00,000) (2,34,21,50,000) 2015-16 (1,25,78,50,000) (3,60,00,00,000) 2016-17 (25,36,03,360) (3,85,36,03,360) Total amount left out of Rs.396 Cr after the write off 10,63,96,640 11. A summary of the transactions is as under: - IPL transferred a huge sum of Rs. 396 Cr. to its 10 LOCS as advances for purchase of development rights of land located at Bhiwadi. The expense booking under cost of development rights. IPL wrote-off the advanced sum to its 10 LOCs in a phased manner, making it evident that these funds have been siphoned off. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... U4S200DL2007PTC160318 14. Sunflower Real Tech Pvt Ltd U70102DL2006PTC156901 15. Faith Buildtech Pvt Ltd U70101DL2010PTC207871 16. Pravesh Promoters Pvt Ltd U70100DL2006PTC146229 17. Sunsine Realbuild Pvt Ltd U70102DL2012PTC230650 18. Elite Township Pvt Ltd U45200DL2006PTC157126 19. Proud Buildwell Pvt Ltd U70100DL2013PTC259004 20. Wisdom Infrahome Pvt Ltd U70102DL2013PTC258945 17. In the Status Report it is stated that these 20 Companies are part of the IREO Group of Companies which were incorporated for carrying out construction and development of real estate activities in India by investing funds raised abroad primarily Mauritius and Singapore. Apart from investment as share capital and debenture from foreign funds, the manag ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... thorities, which they are bound to exercise under law, is not discernible from the order under challenge. It is not the function of the court to monitor investigation processes so long as such investigation does not transgress any provision of law. It must be left to the investigating agency to decide the venue, the timings and the questions and the manner of putting such questions to persons involved in such offences . A blanket order fully insulating a person from arrest would make his interrogation a mere ritual, (vide State rep. by the CBI v. Anil Sharma [(1997) 7 SCC 187 : 1997 SCC (Cri) 1039 : JT (1997) 7 SC 651] ). (emphasis supplied) 21. In P. Chidambaram v. Directorate of Enforcement, (2019) 9 SCC 24, the Apex Court has held as under: 61. The investigation of a cognizable offence and the various stages thereon including the interrogation of the accused is exclusively reserved for the investigating agency whose powers are unfettered so long as the investigating officer exercises his investigating powers well within the provisions of the law and the legal bounds. In exercise of its inherent power under Section 482 CrPC, the Court can interfere and issue appro ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to proceed in its own manner in interrogation of the accused, nature of questions put to him and the manner of interrogation of the accused. 67. It is one thing to say that if the power of investigation has been exercised by an investigating officer mala fide or non-compliance of the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code in the conduct of the investigation, it is open to the court to quash the proceedings where there is a clear case of abuse of power. It is a different matter that the High Court in exercise of its inherent power under Section 482 CrPC, can always issue appropriate direction at the instance of an aggrieved person if the High Court is convinced that the power of investigation has been exercised by the investigating officer mala fide and not in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code. However, as pointed out earlier that power is to be exercised in rare cases where there is a clear abuse of power and non-compliance of the provisions falling under Chapter XII of the Code of Criminal Procedure requiring the interference of the High Court. In the initial stages of investigation where the Court is considering the question of grant of regula ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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