TMI Blog2023 (10) TMI 1370X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... itions of Section 45 of the PMLA Act are to be satisfied but at the same time, the judgment passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the matter of SATENDER KUMAR ANTIL VERSUS CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION ANR. [ 2022 (8) TMI 152 - SUPREME COURT] cannot be lost sight of as the applicant is a lady suffering from various ailments and she cooperated in the investigation of the matter and other co-accused persons against whom similar allegations were made, have already been granted anticipatory bail by the Hon'ble Supreme Court and by this Court, therefore, in opinion of this Court, the present is a fit case to extend the benefit under Section 438 of Cr.P.C. to the applicant. It is directed that in the event of arrest of the applicant in connection with the aforesaid offence, she shall be released on anticipatory bail on her furnishing a personal bond for a sum of Rs. 50,000/- with one surety in the like sum to the satisfaction of the arresting officer and she shall abide by the conditions imposed - bail application allowed. - Hon'ble Judges Rakesh Mohan Pandey, J For the Appellant : Krishna Tandon, Advocate For the Respondents : S.K. Pandey, Advocate ORDER Rakesh Mohan Pa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... awal, Vinod Agrawal, Babulal Agrawal, Pawan Agrawal and Ashok Kumar Agrawal in relation to the same search and seizure. 4. Learned counsel for the applicant would submit that according to the proviso appended to Section 45 of the PMLA Act, the applicant being a lady and suffering from various ailments is entitled to the grant of anticipatory bail. He would further submit that in the matter of Satender Kumar Antil vs. Central Bureau of Investigation and Another, reported in 2022 (10) SCC 51, the Hon'ble Supreme Court in paragraph 43 has held that in a case where the prosecution does not require custody of the accused, there is no need for arrest when a case is sent to the magistrate under Section 170 of the Code. It is also observed that there is no need for filing a bail application as the case is merely forwarded to the court for the framing of charges and issuance of process for trial. He would further contend that in the present case, though the FIR was registered on 19.2.2010, the applicant was never directed to appear before the investigating agency and the same is evident from the notice dated 05.10.2020 which clearly says that in view of the medical condition as already ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ent applicant is the wife of the main accused Babulal Agrawal and she was an employee of M/s. Prime Ispat Limited from the year 2007 to 2010. The applicant was appointed as Senior Manager of Finance in M/s. Prime Ispat Limited and she had to maintain the cash of the company and look after the day-to-day accounts. He would further submit that according to the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the matter of Satender Kumar Antil (supra), the accused should cooperate in the investigation and a person who has not been arrested may take the benefit of Satender Kumar Antil judgment. He would also contend that in the present case, the applicant is not cooperating with the investigating agency and summons was also issued to her. He would further argue that the applicant has to satisfy the twin conditions of Section 45 of the PMLA Act. His next contention is that Economic Offences constitute a separate class and anticipatory bail should not ordinarily be granted in such offences. He has placed reliance on the judgment passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the matter of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy vs. CBI, (2013) 7 SCC 439 and the judgment passed by the High Court of Allahabad ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... izable and non-bailable.- (1) [Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), no person accused of an offence [under this Act] shall be released on bail or on his own bond unless--] (i) the Public Prosecutor has been given a opportunity to oppose the application for such release; and (ii) where the Public Prosecutor opposes the application, the court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail: Provided that a person, who, is under the age of sixteen years, or is a woman or is sick or infirm,[or is accused either on his own or along with other co-accused of money-laundering a sum of less than one crore rupees] may be released on bail, if the Special Court so directs: Provided further that the Special Court shall not take cognizance of any offence punishable under section 4 except upon a complaint in writing made by-- (i) the Director; or (ii) any officer of the Central Government or a State Government authorised in writing in this behalf by the Central Government by a general or special order made in this behalf by that Govern ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ase when the appellant has joined the investigation, investigation has completed and he has been roped in after seven 4 Joginder Kumar v. State of UP Ors. (1994) 4 SCC 260 years of registration of the FIR we can think of no reason why at this stage he must be arrested before the chargesheet is taken on record. We may note that learned counsel for the appellant has already stated before us that on summons being issued the appellant will put the appearance before the trial court. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the matter of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy (supra) in para 34 35 of the report held as under: 34) Economic offences constitute a class apart and need to be visited with a different approach in the matter of bail. The economic offence having deep rooted conspiracies and involving huge loss of public funds needs to be viewed seriously and considered as grave offences affecting the economy of the country as a whole and thereby posing serious threat to the financial health of the country. 35) While granting bail, the court has to keep in mind the nature of accusations, the nature of evidence in support thereof, the severity of the punishment which conviction will entail, the character ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ocedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), or any other provision of this Act, no police officer shall investigate into an offence under this Act unless specifically authorised, by the Central Government by a general or special order, and, subject to such conditions as may be prescribed.] (2) The limitation on granting of bail specified in [* * *] Sub-section (1) is in addition to the limitations under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) or any other law for the time being in force on granting of bail. 5.1 By the impugned judgment and order, while granting anticipatory bail the High Court has observed that the provisions of Section 45 of the Act, 2002 shall not be applicable with respect to the anticipatory bail applications/proceedings under Section 438 Cr.PC. For which the High Court has relied upon the decision of this Court in the case of Nikesh Tarachand Shah (supra). In the case of Dr. V.C. Mohan (supra), this Court has specifically observed and held that it is the wrong understanding that in the case of Nikesh Tarachand Shah (supra) this Court has held that the rigour of Section 45 of the Act, 2002 shall not be applicable to the application under Section 438 Cr. PC. In the case ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lanning by use of modern gadgets in course of performance of their official, professional, business activities in which they have expertise. Criminal acts committed by professionals, businessmen and public servants, it is very difficult to identify whether sober and civilised activity was committed or criminal act was committed. Such criminals have no criminal self image, further by societal members there is no labelling which affect seriously pursuits to cope with crime and criminality. Economic offenders are only concerned with their personal gain even at the cost of irreparable and serious loss to society which provided socialization and made him a human being, provided status and position, provided respect and reputation, provided stature and means. 40. To gain more and more profit, to become rich quick such criminal even has no problem to cause problem for the whole society, affect safety and security of life of societal members, misappropriation of public exchequer and ultimately affect completely wellbeing of society at large. In the way to accumulate money and to get physical commodities, life, property and well-being of common persons have no value. Criminal acts committed ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . If the court is of the view that there is no need for any remand, then the court can fall back upon Section 88 of the Code and complete the formalities required to secure the presence of the accused for the commencement of the trial. Of course, there may be a situation where a remand may be required, it is only in such cases that the accused will have to be heard. Therefore, in such a situation, an opportunity will have to be given to the accused persons, if the court is of the prima facie view that the remand would be required. We make it clear that we have not said anything on the cases in which the accused persons are already in custody, for which, the bail application has to be decided on its own merits. ECONOMIC OFFENSES (CATEGORY D) 90. What is left for us now to discuss are the economic offences. The question for consideration is whether it should be treated as a class of its own or otherwise. This issue has already been dealt with by this Court in the case of P. Chidambaram v. Directorate of Enforcement, (2020) 13 SCC 791, after taking note of the earlier decisions governing the field. The gravity of the offence, the object of the Special Act, and the attending circumstan ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ation, the court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail: Provided that a person, who, is under the age of sixteen years, or is a woman or is sick or infirm, or is accused either on his own or along with other co-accused of money-laundering a sum of less than one crore rupees] may be released on bail, if the Special Court so directs. 10.1 As per Satinder Kumar Antil, Offences punishable under Special Acts containing stringent provisions for bail like NDPS (S. 37), PMLA (S.45), UAPA (S.43D(5), Companies Act, 212(6), etc. fall in category C. The bail applications for offences falling in Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By: JITENDRA Signing Date:28.11.2022 BAIL APPLN. 559/2022 RANA KAPOOR V DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT Page 26 11:59:21 Neutral Citation Number : 2022/DHC/005170 Category C are required to be decided on merit besides consideration of additional condition of compliance of the provisions of Bail under NDPS S.37, 45 PMLA, 212(6) Companies Act 43d(5) of UAPA, POSCO etc. 11. The applicant was not implicated in FIR bearing RC No. 2232021A0005 registered ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d para no 65 of Satinder Kumar Antil is misplaced. There is no force in argument advanced by the learned Special Counsel for the respondent that the applicant before grant of bail required to pass test of 45 of PMLA. The position would have been different, had the applicant arrested during investigation. The investigating agency as mentioned hereinabove consciously preferred not to arrest the applicant during investigation or post filing of charge sheet. The arguments advanced and case law relied on by the Special Counsel for the respondent are considered in right perspective to the given facts and circumstances but they do not provide much legal help to the respondent in opposing present bail application. 10. It is not in dispute that the FIR was registered on 19.02.2010 whereas the respondent filed a complaint arraying the applicant as accused in ECIR on 04.01.2021 i.e. after 10 years. From the summons issued to the applicant, it is quite vivid that she was permitted to appear through an authorized person and it cannot be said that she did not cooperate in the investigation. According to the proviso appended to Section 45 of the PMLA Act, a woman suffering from certain ailments m ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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