THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
(2022) 4 Crimes 119 : (2022) 3 JCC 2100 : (2022) 10 SCALE 577 : (2022) 6 SCR 382
VIJAY MADANLAL CHOUDHARY AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS — Respondent
SLP (Criminal) No. 4634 of 2014 with; SLP (Civil) No. 28394 of 2011; SLP (Civil) No. 28922 of 2011; SLP (Civil) No. 29273 of 2011; SLP (Criminal) No. …….of 2022 (@ Diary No. 41063 of 2015); SLP (Criminal) No. 9987 of 2015; SLP (Criminal) No. 10018 of 2015; SLP (Criminal) No. 10019 of 2015; SLP (Criminal) No. 993 of 2016; Transfer Petition (Criminal) No. 150 of 2016; Transfer Petition (Criminal) Nos. 151-157 of 2016; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 152 of 2016; SLP (Criminal) No. 11839 of 2019; SLP (Criminal) No. 2890 of 2017; SLP (Criminal) No. 5487 of 2017; Criminal Appeal No. 1269 of 2017; Criminal Appeal No. 1270 of 2017; Criminal Appeal Nos. 1271-1272 of 2017; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 202 of 2017; SLP (Criminal) No. ……..of 2022 (@ Diary No(s). 9360 of 2018); SLP (Criminal) No. …….of 2022 (@ Diary No(s). 9365 of 2018); SLP (Criminal) No. ……….of 2022 (@ Diary No(s). 17000 of 2018); SLP (Criminal) No. ……….of 2022 (@ Diary No(s). 17462 of 2018); SLP (Criminal) No. ……….of 2022 (@ Diary No(s). 20250 of 2018); SLP (Criminal) No. ……….of 2022 (@ Diary No(s). 22529 of 2018); SLP (Criminal) No. 1534 of 2018; SLP (Criminal) Nos. 1701-1703 of 2018; SLP (Criminal) No. 1705 of 2018; SLP (Criminal) No. 2971 of 2018; SLP (Criminal) No. 4078 of 2018; SLP (Criminal) No. 5444 of 2018; SLP (Criminal) No. 6922 of 2018; SLP (Criminal) No. 7408 of 2018; SLP (Criminal) No. 8156 of 2018; SLP (Criminal) No. 11049 of 2018; Criminal Appeal No. 223 of 2018; Criminal Appeal Nos. 391-392 of 2018; Criminal Appeal Nos. 793-794 of 2018; Criminal Appeal No. 1114 of 2018; Criminal Appeal No. 1115 of 2018; Criminal Appeal No. 1210 of 2018; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 26 of 2018; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 33 of 2018; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 75 of 2018; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 117 of 2018; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 173 of 2018; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 175 of 2018; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 184 of 2018; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 226 of 2018; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 251 of 2018; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 309 of 2018; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 333 of 2018; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 336 of 2018; Transferred Case (Criminal) No. 3 of 2018; Transferred Case (Criminal) No. 4 of 2018; Transferred Case (Criminal) No. 5 of 2018; Transfer Petition (Civil) No. 1583 of 2018; SLP (Criminal) No. 244 of 2019; SLP (Criminal) No. 3647 of 2019; SLP (Criminal) Nos. 4322-4324 of 2019; SLP (Criminal) No. 4546 of 2019; SLP (Criminal) No. 5153 of 2019; SLP (Criminal) No. 5350 of 2019; SLP (Criminal) No. 6834 of 2019; SLP (Criminal) No. 8111 of 2019; SLP (Criminal) No. 8174 of 2019; SLP (Criminal) No. 9541 of 2019; SLP (Criminal) No. 9652 of 2019; SLP (Criminal) No. 10627 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 9 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 16 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 49 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 118 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 119 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 122 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 127 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 139 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 147 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 173 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 205 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 212 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 217 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 239 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 244 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 253 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 261 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 263 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 266 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 267 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 272 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 273 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 283 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 285 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 286 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 287 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 288 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 289 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 298 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 299 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 300 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 303 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 305 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 306 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 308 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 309 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 313 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 326 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 346 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 365 of 2019; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 367 of 2019; Criminal Appeal No. 682 of 2019; SLP (Criminal) No. 647 of 2020; SLP (Criminal) No. 260 of 2020; SLP (Criminal) No. 618 of 2020; SLP (Criminal) No. 1732 of 2020; SLP (Criminal) No. 2023 of 2020; SLP (Criminal) No. 2814 of 2020; SLP (Criminal) No. 3366 of 2020; SLP (Criminal) No. 3474 of 2020; SLP (Criminal) No. 5536 of 2020; SLP (Criminal) No. 6128 of 2020; SLP (Criminal) No. 6172 of 2020; SLP (Criminal) No. 6303 of 2020; SLP (Criminal) No. 6456 of 2020; SLP (Criminal) No. 6660 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 5 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 9 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 28 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 35 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 36 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 39 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 49 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 52 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 60 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 61 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 89 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 90 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 91 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 93 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 124 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 137 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 140 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 142 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 145 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 169 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 184 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 221 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 223 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 228 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 239 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 240 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 259 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 267 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 285 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 286 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 311 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 329 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 366 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 380 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 385 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 387 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 404 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 410 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 411 of 2020; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 429 of 2020; Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1401 of 2020; SLP (Criminal) No. ………of 2022 (@ Diary No(s). 8626 of 2021); SLP (Criminal) No. ……..of 2022 (@ Diary No(s). 31616 of 2021); SLP (Criminal) No. ……..of 2022 (@ Diary No. 11605 of 2021); SLP (Criminal) No. 609 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 734 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 1031 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 1072 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 1073 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 1107 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 1355 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 1440 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 1403 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 1586 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 1855 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 1920 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) Nos. 2050-2054 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 2237 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 2250 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 2435 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 2818 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 3228 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 3274 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 3439 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 3514 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 3629 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 3769 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 3813 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 3921 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 4024 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 4834 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 5156 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 5174 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 5252 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 5457 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 5652 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) Nos. 5696-5697 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 6189 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 6338 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 6847 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) Nos. 7021-7023 of 2021; SLP (Criminal) No. 8429 of 2021; SLP (Civil) Nos. 8764-8767 of 2021; SLP (Civil) No. 20310 of 2021; Transfer Petition (Criminal) No. 435 of 2021; Writ Petition (Civil) No. 56 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 4 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 6 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 11 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 18 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 19 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 21 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 27 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 33 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 40 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 47 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 66 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 69 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 144 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 179 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 199 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 207 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 239 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 263 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 268 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 282 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 301 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 323 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 359 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 370 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 303 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 305 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 453 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 454 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 475 of 2021; Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 520 of 2021 and Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 532 of 2021
Decided on : 27-07-2022
A. Prevention of Money – Laundering Act, 2002 – Sections 5, 8(4), 15, 17 and 19 – Constitutional validity of Sections 5, 8(4), 15, 17 and 19 of the Prevention of Money – Laundering Act, 2002 is upheld – Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has powers to arrest, attachment, search and seizure – At the stage of issue of summons, the person cannot claim protection under Article 20(3) of the Constitution.
B. Constitution of India, 1950 – Section 20(3) – Evidence Act, 1872 – Section 25 – Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 50 – Summons by Directorate of Enforcement – Protection of Article 20(3) – At the stage of issue of summons, the person cannot claim protection under Article 20(3) of the Constitution – However, if his/her statement is recorded after a formal arrest by the ED official, the consequences of Article 20(3) or Section 25 of the Evidence Act may come into play to urge that the same being in the nature of confession, shall not be proved against him:
- In respect of such action, the designated officials have been empowered to summon any person for collection of information and evidence to be presented before the Adjudicating Authority. It is not necessarily for initiating a prosecution against the noticee as such. The power entrusted to the designated officials under this Act, though couched as investigation in real sense, is to undertake inquiry to ascertain relevant facts to facilitate initiation of or pursuing with an action regarding proceeds of crime, if the situation so warrants and for being presented before the Adjudicating Authority.
C. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 2(1)(na) – Definitions – “Proceedings” and “Investigation” – Expression “proceedings” occurring in Clause (na) of Section 2(1) of the 2002 Act is contextual and is required to be given expansive meaning to include inquiry procedure followed by the Authorities of ED, the Adjudicating Authority, and the Special Court – Expression “investigation” in Clause (na) of Section 2(1) of the 2002 Act does not limit itself to the matter of investigation concerning the offence under the Act and is interchangeable with the function of “inquiry” to be undertaken by the Authorities under the Act.
D. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 2(1)(u) – Definition – “Proceeds of crime” – Explanation inserted to Clause (u) of Section 2(1) of the 2002 Act does not travel beyond the main provision predicating tracking and reaching upto the property derived or obtained directly or indirectly as a result of criminal activity relating to a scheduled offence.
E. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 3 – Offence of money-laundering – Section 3 of the 2002 Act has a wider reach and captures every process and activity, direct or indirect, in dealing with the proceeds of crime and is not limited to the happening of the final act of integration of tainted property in the formal economy – Explanation inserted to Section 3 by way of amendment of 2019 does not expand the purport of Section 3 but is only clarificatory in nature – It clarifies the word “and” preceding the expression projecting or claiming as “or”; and being a clarificatory amendment, it would make no difference even if it is introduced by way of Finance Act or otherwise – Expression “and” occurring in Section 3 has to be construed as “or”, to give full play to the said provision so as to include “every” process or activity indulged into by anyone – Projecting or claiming the property as untainted property would constitute an offence of money-laundering on its own, being an independent process or activity.
F. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 3 – Offence of money-laundering – The offence under Section 3 of the 2002 Act is dependent on illegal gain of property as a result of criminal activity relating to a scheduled offence – It is concerning the process or activity connected with such property, which constitutes the offence of moneylaundering – The Authorities under the 2002 Act cannot prosecute any person on notional basis or on the assumption that a scheduled offence has been committed, unless it is so registered with the jurisdictional police and/or pending enquiry/trial including by way of criminal complaint before the competent forum – If the person is finally discharged/acquitted of the scheduled offence or the criminal case against him is quashed by the Court of competent jurisdiction, there can be no offence of money-laundering against him or any one claiming such property being the property linked to stated scheduled offence through him.
G. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 3 – Offence of money-laundering – There can be no doubt as to the bona fides of the Legislature in implementing an understating of Section 3 that will help not only stop but prevent money-laundering by nipping it in the bud.
H. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 3 – Offence of money-laundering – Expression “money-laundering”, ordinarily, means the process or activity of placement, layering and finally integrating the tainted property in the formal economy of the country. However, Section 3 has a wider reach. The offence, as defined, captures every process and activity in dealing with the proceeds of crime, directly or indirectly, and not limited to the happening of the final act of integration of tainted property in the formal economy to constitute an act of money-laundering.
I. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 3 – Offence of money-laundering – Expression “and” in Section 3 as “or”, to give full play to the said provision so as to include “every” process or activity indulged into by anyone, including projecting or claiming the property as untainted property to constitute an offence of money-laundering on its own – Act of projecting or claiming proceeds of crime to be untainted property presupposes that the person is in possession of or is using the same (proceeds of crime), also an independent activity constituting offence of money-laundering – In other words, it is not open to read the different activities conjunctively because of the word “and”. If that interpretation is accepted, the effectiveness of Section 3 of the 2002 Act can be easily frustrated by the simple device of one person possessing proceeds of crime and his accomplice would indulge in projecting or claiming it to be untainted property so that neither is covered under Section 3 of the 2002 Act.
J. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 3 – Offence of money-laundering – Bare language of “Section 3” – Offence of money-laundering is an independent offence regarding the process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime which had been derived or obtained as a result of criminal activity relating to or in relation to a scheduled offence. The process or activity can be in any form – be it one of concealment, possession, acquisition, use of proceeds of crime as much as projecting it as untainted property or claiming it to be so. Thus, involvement in any one of such process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime would constitute offence of money-laundering. This offence otherwise has nothing to do with the criminal activity relating to a scheduled offence – except the proceeds of crime derived or obtained as a result of that crime.
K. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 3 – Offence of money-laundering – Rudimentary understanding of ‘money-laundering’ is that there are three generally accepted stages to money-laundering, they are:
(a) Placement: which is to move the funds from direct association of the crime.
(b) Layering: which is disguising the trail to foil pursuit.
(c) Integration: which is making the money available to the criminal from what seem to be legitimate sources.
L. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 3 – Offence of money-laundering – It is common experience world over that money-laundering can be a threat to the good functioning of a financial system. However, it is also the most suitable mode for the criminals to deal in such money. It is the means of livelihood of drug dealers, terrorist, white collar criminals and so on. Tainted money breeds discontent in any society and in turn leads to more crime and civil unrest. Thus, the onus on the Government and the people to identify and seize such money is heavy. If there are any proactive steps towards such a cause, cannot but facilitate the good steps. However, passions aside, must first balance the law to be able to save the basic tenets of the fundamental rights and laws of this country. After all, condemning an innocent man is a bigger misfortune than letting a criminal go.
M. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 3 – Offence of money-laundering – Accordingly, the phrase “and projecting it as untainted property” was added the initial definition in the 2002 Act. However, it can also be inferred from here that since the initial strokes of drafting the Act, the intention was always to have a preventive Act and not simply a money-laundering (penal) Act. Today, if one dives deep into the financial systems, anywhere in the world, it is seen that once a financial mastermind can integrate the illegitimate money into the bloodstream of an economy, it is almost indistinguishable. In fact the money can be simply wired abroad at one click of the mouse. It is also well known that once this money leaves the country, it is almost impossible to get it back. Hence, a simplistic argument or the view that Section 3 should only find force once the money has been laundered, does not commend to us. That has never been the intention of the Parliament nor the international Conventions.
N. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 3 – Offence of money-laundering – Whether the offence under Section 3 is a standalone offence? – Held, Authority under the 2002 Act, is to prosecute a person for offence of money-laundering only if it has reason to believe, which is required to be recorded in writing that the person is in possession of “proceeds of crime”. Only if that belief is further supported by tangible and credible evidence indicative of involvement of the person concerned in any process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime, action under the Act can be taken forward for attachment and confiscation of proceeds of crime and until vesting thereof in the Central Government, such process initiated would be a standalone process.
O. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 5 – Attachment of property involved in money-laundering – Section 5 of the 2002 Act is constitutionally valid – It provides for a balancing arrangement to secure the interests of the person as also ensures that the proceeds of crime remain available to be dealt with in the manner provided by the 2002 Act – Procedural safeguards as delineated by us hereinabove are effective measures to protect the interests of person concerned.
P. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 5 – Attachment of property involved in money-laundering – Section 5 forms part of Chapter III dealing with attachment, adjudication and confiscation. This provision empowers the Director or officer not below the rank of Deputy Director authorised by the Director for the purposes of attachment of property involved in money-laundering. Such authorised officer is expected to act only if he has reason to believe that any person is in possession of proceeds of crime. This belief has to be formed on the basis of material in his possession and the reasons therefor are required to be recorded in writing. In addition, he must be convinced that such proceeds of crime are likely to be concealed, transferred or dealt with in any manner which is likely to result in frustrating any proceedings concerning confiscation thereof under the 2002 Act.
Q. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 5 – Attachment of property involved in money-laundering – It is evident that several inbuilt safeguards have been provided by the Parliament while enacting the 2002 Act. This provision has been amended vide Act 21 of 2009, Act 2 of 2013, Finance Act, 2015 and Act 13 of 2018, to strengthen the mechanism keeping in mind the scheme of the 2002 Act and the need to prevent and regulate the activity of moneylaundering. As regards the amendments made vide Act 21 of 2009 and Act 2 of 2013, the same are not matters in issue in these cases. The challenge is essentially to the amendment effected in the second proviso in sub-section (1), vide Finance Act, 2015.
R. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 5 – Attachment of property involved in money-laundering – Sub-section (1) delineates sufficient safeguards to be adhered to by the authorised officer before issuing provisional attachment order in respect of proceeds of crime. It is only upon recording satisfaction regarding the twin requirements referred to in sub-section (1), the authorised officer can proceed to issue order of provisional attachment of such proceeds of crime. Before issuing a formal order, the authorised officer has to form his opinion and delineate the reasons for such belief to be recorded in writing, which indeed is not on the basis of assumption, but on the basis of material in his possession. The order of provisional attachment is, thus, the outcome of such satisfaction already recorded by the authorised officer. Notably, the provisional order of attachment operates for a fixed duration not exceeding one hundred and eighty days from the date of the order. This is yet another safeguard provisioned in the 2002 Act itself.
S. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) – Section 173 – Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 5 – Attachment of property involved in money – As per the first proviso, in ordinary situation, no order of provisional attachment can be issued until a report has been forwarded to a Magistrate under Section 173 of the 1973 Code in relation to the scheduled offence, or a complaint has been filed by a person authorised to investigate the offence mentioned in that Schedule, before a Magistrate or Court for taking cognizance of the scheduled offence, as the case may be. It further provides that a similar report or complaint has been made or filed under the corresponding law of any other country. In other words, filing of police report or a private complaint in relation to the scheduled offence had been made a precondition for issuing an order of provisional attachment.
T. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 5 – Attachment of property involved in money-laundering – Attachment must be only in respect of property which appears to be proceeds of crime and not all the properties belonging to concerned person who would eventually face the action of confiscation of proceeds of crime, including prosecution for offence of money-laundering. As mentioned earlier, the relevant date for initiating action under the 2002 Act – be it of attachment and confiscation or prosecution, is linked to the inclusion of the offence as scheduled offence and of carrying on the process or activity in connection with the proceeds of crime after such date. The pivot moves around the date of carrying on the process and activity connected with the proceeds of crime; and not the date on which the property has been derived or obtained by the person concerned as a result of any criminal activity relating to or relatable to the scheduled offence.
U. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 17 – Prevention of MoneyLaundering (Forms, Search and Seizure or Freezing and the Manner of Forwarding the Reasons and Material to the Adjudicating Authority, Impounding and Custody of Records and the Period of Retention) Rules, 2005 – Rule 3(2) – Pre-condition in the proviso to Rule 3(2) of the 2005 Rules cannot be read into Section 17 after its amendment – Central Government may take necessary corrective steps to obviate confusion caused in that regard.
V. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 24 – Burden of proof – Section 24 of the 2002 Act has reasonable nexus with the purposes and objects sought to be achieved by the 2002 Act and cannot be regarded as manifestly arbitrary or unconstitutional.
W. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 44(1)(a) – Offences triable by Special Courts – Proviso in Clause (a) of sub-section (1) of Section 44 of the 2002 Act is to be regarded as directory in nature and this provision is also read down to mean that the Special Court may exercise judicial discretion on case-to-case basis.
X. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 45 – Offences to be cognizable and non-bailable – Provision in the form of Section 45 of the 2002 Act, as applicable post amendment of 2018, is reasonable and has direct nexus with the purposes and objects sought to be achieved by the 2002 Act and does not suffer from the vice of arbitrariness or unreasonableness.
Y. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) – Section 438 – Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 45 – Grant of Bail – Offences to be cognizable and non-bailable – As regards the prayer for grant of bail, irrespective of the nature of proceedings, including those under Section 438 of the 1973 Code or even upon invoking the jurisdiction of Constitutional Courts, the underlying principles and rigours of Section 45 may apply.
Z. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) – Section 436A – Maximum period for which an undertrial prisoner can be detained – Beneficial provision of Section 436A of the 1973 Code could be invoked by the accused arrested for offence punishable under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002.
ZA. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Sections 48 and 50 – Powers of authorities regarding summons, production of documents and to give evidence, etc. – Process envisaged by Section 50 of the 2002 Act is in the nature of an inquiry against the proceeds of crime and is not “investigation” in strict sense of the term for initiating prosecution and the Authorities under the 2002 Act (referred to in Section 48), are not police officers as such.
ZB. Constitution of India, 1950 – Articles 20(3) and 21 – Statements recorded by the Authorities under Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 Act are not hit by Article 20(3) or Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
ZC. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 63 – Punishment for false information or failure to give information, etc. – Section 63 of the 2002 Act providing for punishment regarding false information or failure to give information does not suffer from any vice of arbitrariness.
ZD. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – The inclusion or exclusion of any particular offence in the Schedule to the 2002 Act is a matter of legislative policy; and the nature or class of any predicate offence has no bearing on the validity of the Schedule or any prescription thereunder.
ZE. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) – Section 173 – Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 48 – First Information Report and ECIR Report – In view of special mechanism envisaged by the 2002 Act, (Enforcement Case Information Report) ECIR cannot be equated with an FIR under the 1973 Code – ECIR is an internal document of the ED and the fact that FIR in respect of scheduled offence has not been recorded does not come in the way of the Authorities referred to in Section 48 to commence inquiry/investigation for initiating “civil action” of “provisional attachment” of property being proceeds of crime.
ZF. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Supply of Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) – Supply of a copy of ECIR in every case to the person concerned is not mandatory, it is enough if ED at the time of arrest, discloses the grounds of such arrest.
ZG. Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Arrested person produced before Special Court – When the arrested person is produced before the Special Court, it is open to the Special Court to look into the relevant records presented by the authorised representative of ED for answering the issue of need for his/her continued detention in connection with the offence of money-laundering – Even when ED manual is not to be published being an internal departmental document issued for the guidance of the Authorities (ED officials), the department ought to explore the desirability of placing information on its website which may broadly outline the scope of the authority of the functionaries under the Act and measures to be adopted by them as also the options/remedies available to the person concerned before the Authority and before the Special Court.
Objectives and Preamble:
Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – What is the objective of Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002?
- The Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 was enacted to address the urgent need to have a comprehensive legislation inter alia for preventing moneylaundering, attachment of proceeds of crime, adjudication and confiscation thereof including vesting of it in the Central Government, setting up of agencies and mechanisms for coordinating measures for combating money-laundering and also to prosecute the persons indulging in the process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime – This need was felt world over owing to the serious threat to the financial systems of the countries, including to their integrity and sovereignty because of money-laundering – International community deliberated over the dispensation to be provided to address the serious threat posed by the process and activities connected with the proceeds of crime and integrating it with formal financial systems of the countries.
Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 – Preamble:
An Act to prevent money-laundering and to provide for confiscation of property derived from, or involved in, money-laundering and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
WHEREAS the Political Declaration and Global Programme of Action, annexed to the resolution S17/2 was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations at its seventeenth special session on the twenty-third day of February, 1990.
AND WHEREAS the Political Declaration adopted by the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly held on 8th to 10th June, 1998 calls upon the Member States to adopt national money-laundering legislation and programme.
AND WHEREAS it is considered necessary to implement the aforesaid resolution and the Declaration.
Even the Preamble of the Act reinforces the background in which the Act has been enacted by the Parliament being commitment of the country to the international community. It is crystal clear from the Preamble that the Act has been enacted to prevent moneylaundering and to provide for confiscation of property derived from or involved in money-laundering and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. It is neither a pure regulatory legislation nor a pure penal legislation. It is amalgam of several facets essential to address the scourge of money-laundering as such. In one sense, it is a sui generis legislation.
As aforesaid, it is a comprehensive legislation dealing with all the related issues concerning prevention of money-laundering, attachment of proceeds of crime, adjudication and confiscation thereof including vesting of it in the Central Government, setting up of agencies and mechanisms for coordinating measures for combating money-laundering and also to prosecute the persons indulging in the process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime. While considering the challenge to the relevant provision(s) of the 2002 Act, cannot be oblivious to the objects and reasons for enacting such a special legislation and the seriousness of the issues to be dealt with thereunder including having transnational implications. Every provision in the 2002 Act will have to be given its due significance while keeping in mind the legislative intent for providing a special mechanism to deal with the scrouge of moneylaundering recognised world over and with the need to deal with it sternly.
Counsel for Appearing Parties
Mr. Vikram Chaudhari, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Nikhil Jain, Advocate, Mr. Harshit Sethi, Advocate, Mr. Sangram S. Saron, Advocate, Mr. Rishi Sehgal, Advocate, Mr. Keshavam Chaudhari, Advocate, Mr. Prabhneer Swani, Advocate, Mr. Arveen Sekhon, Advocate, Mr. Hemant Shah, Advocate, Mr. Vinod Kumar Jain, Advocate, Mr. Satya Prakash, Advocate, Mr. Suryanarayana Singh, Sr. Advocate, Ms. Pragati Neekhra, Advocate, Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Mahesh Agarwal, Advocate, Mr. Anshuman Srivastava, Advocate, Mr. Prasouk Jawin, Advocate, Ms. Rabiya Thakur, Advocate, Mr. Nishant Rao, Advocate, Mr. Arshit Anand, Advocate, Mr. E.C. Agrawala, Advocate, Mr. Kapil Sibbal, Sr. Advocate, Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Mahesh Agarwal, Advocate, Mr. Arijit Singh Khurana, Advocate, Mr. Arshdeep Singh Khurana, Advocate, Mr. Prateek K. Chadha, Advocate, Mr. Ayush S., Advocate, Mr. Adit S. Pujari, Advocate, Mr. Amit Bhandari, Advocate, Mr. Akshat Gupta, Advocate, Ms. Madhavi Agrawal, Advocate, Mr. Vaibhav Niti, Advocate, Ms. Ambika Mathur, Advocate, Mr. Shreedhar Kale, Advocate, Mr. Raghav Tankha, Advocate, Mr. Harsh Mittal, Advocate, Mrs. Shally Bhasin, Advocate, Mr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Balaji Subramanian, Advocate, Ms. Ishani Banerjee, Advocate, Mr. SCV Vimal Pani, Advocate, Ms. L Maheswari, Advocate, Mr. Balaji Subramaniam, Advocate, Mr. A. Lakshminarayanan, Advocate, Mr. Ramesh, Advocate, Mr. Sidharth Luthra,Sr. Advocate, Mr. Tarun Dua, Advocate, Mr. Anant Garg, Advocate, Mr. Asif Ahmad, Advocate, Mr. Adityaa Raju, Advocate, Mr. Mukul Rohatgi, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Sidharth Luthra, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Suhaan Mukerji, Advocate, Mr. Shri Singh, Advocate, Mr. Aditya Dewan, Advocate, Mr. Vishal Prasad, Advocate, Ms. Chitralekha Das, Advocate, Mr. Nikhil Parikshith, Advocate, Mr. Asif Ahmad, Advocate, Mr. Sanjivani Pattjoshi, Advocate, Mr. Bharat Monga, Advocate, Mr. Pankaj Singhal, Advocate, Mr. Adityaa Raju, Advocate, Mr. Dewang Singh Chauhan, Advocate, Mr. Abhishek Manchanda, Advocate, Mr. Kushagra Raghuvanshi, Advocate, Mr. Chirag Madan, Advocate, Ms. Shubhangini Jain, Advocate, Mr. Ayush Kaushi, Advocate, Mr. Hardik Rupal, Advocate, Mr. Angaj Gautam, Advocate, Mr. Yash Giri, Advocate, Mr. Aaditya Raju, Advocate, Mr. Sayandeep Pahari, Advocate, Ms. Padma Venkataraman, Advocate, Mr. Sayandeep Pahari, Advocate, M/S. PLR Chambers And Co., Advocate, Mr. Mukul Rohatgi, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Suhaan Mukerji, Advocate, Mr. Vivek Reddy, Sr. Advocate, Mrs. Shally Bhasin, Advocate, Mr. Pratik Reddy, Advocate, Mr. Victor Das, Advocate, Ms. Anwesha Padhi, Advocate, Ms. Madhavi Agrawal, Advocate, Mr. Mohit Rai, Advocate, Mr. Vikram Chaudhri, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Atul Agarwal, Advocate, Mr. Sourabh Kumar Mishra, Advocate, Mr. Kumar Dushyant Singh, Advocate, Mr. Vikram Chaudhry, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Atul Agarwal, Advocate, Mr. Vikram Chaudhri, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Keshavam Chaudhri, Advocate, Mr. Amit K. Nain, Advocate, Mr. Harshit Sethi, Advocate, Mr. Rishi Sehgal, Advocate, Ms. Ria Khanna, Advocate, Mr. Devanshu Yadav, Advocate, Mr. Kapil Dahiya, Advocate, Mr. Vikram Chaudhari, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Raktim Gogoi, Advocate, Mr. Varun Shekhar, Advocate, Mr. Kartikeya Singh, Advocate, Mr. Samarth Shandilya, Advocate, Mr. Gautam Awasthi, Advocate, . Mr. Vikram Chaudhri, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Keshavam Chaudhri, Advocate, Mr. Rishi Sehgal, Advocate, Ms. Ria Khanna, Advocate, Mr. Gautam Awasthi, Advocate, Mr. Vikram Chaudhri, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Harshit Sethi, Advocate, Mr. Keshavam Chaudhri, Advocate, Ms. Anzu K. Varkey, Advocate, Mr. Rishi Sehgal, Advocate, Ms. Ria Khanna, Advocate, Mr. Kapil Dahiya, Advocate, Mr. Devanshu, Advocate, Mr. Vikram Chaudhari, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Raktim Gogoi, Advocate, Mr. Harshit Sethi, Advocate, Mr. Kartikeya Singh, Advocate, Mr. Avadh Bihari Kaushik, Advocate, Mr. Rishi Sehgal, Advocate, Mr. Keshavam Chaudhri, Advocate, Ms. Ria Khanna, Advocate, Mr. Kapil Dahiya, Advocate, Mr. Vikram Chaudhari, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Rishi Sehgal, Advocate, Mr. Hemant Shah, Advocate, Mr. Harshit Sethi, Advocate, Mr. Keshavam Chaudhari, Advocate, Ms. Ria Khanna, Advocate, Mr. Avadh Bihari Kaushik, Advocate, Mr. Vikram Chaudhri, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Anand Dilip Dagga, Advocate, Mr. Raktim gogoi, Advocate, Mr. Kartikeya Singh, Advocate, Mr. Rishi Sehgal, Advocate, Ms. Ria Khanna, Advocate, Mr. Avadh Bihari Kaushik, Advocate, Mr. Tushar Mehta, SG, Mr. Suryaprakash V. Raju, ASG, Mr. Aman Lekhi, ASG, Mr. K.M. Nataraj, ASG, Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Advocate, Mr. Rajat Nair, Advocate, Mr. Sairica Raju, Advocate, Ms. Sharadha Deshmukh, Advocate, Mr. Neela Kedar Gokhale, Advocate, Mr. Ritwiz Rishabh, Advocate, Mr. Sharath Nambiyar, Advocate, Mr. A k Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Tushar Mehta,SG Mr. Aman Lekhi, ASG, Mr. Zoheb Hussain, Advocate, Ms. Shraddha Deshmukh Advocate, Ms. Nisha Bagchi Advocate, Mr. Binu Tamta Advocate, Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Advocate, Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Tushar Mehta, SG, Mr. Suryaprakash V. Raju, ASG, Mr. K.M. Nataraj, Advocate, Ms. Zoheb Hussain, Advocate, Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Advocate, Ms. Sairica Raju, Advocate, Mr. Deepanshu Dutta, Advocate, Mr. Sughosh Subramanyajm, Advocate, Ms. Shradha Deshmukh, Advocate, Ms. Neela Kedar Gokhale, Advocate, Mr. Ritwiz Rishabh, Advocate, Mr. Sharath Nambiar, Advocate, Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, Advocate, Mr. Pranay Ranjan, Advocate, Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav, Advocate, Mr. Tushar Mehta, Ld.SG Mr. S.V. Raju, ASG, Mr. K.M. Nataraj, ASG, Mr. Anshuman Singh, Advocate, Mr. Ankit Bhatia, Advocate, Mr. Arpit Goel, Advocate, Mr. G.S. Makker, Advocate, Mr. M.K.Maroria, Advocate, Ms. Sairica Raju, Advocate, Ms. Annam Venkatesh, Advocate, Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Advocate, Mr. Zoheb Hussain, Advocate, Mr. Rajat N. Advocate, Mr. Harsh Paul Singh, Advocate, Mr. Vivek Gurnani, Advocate, Mr. Shoaib Alvi, Advocate, Mr. Om Prakash Shukla, Advocate, Mr. Sanjay Kumar Tyagi, Advocate, Ms. Deepabali Dutta, Advocate, Ms. Shradha Deshmukha, Advocate, Mr. Anvit Bhatia, Advocate, Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Tushar Mehta, SG, Mr. S V Raju, ASG, Mr. Kanu Agarwal, Advocate, Mr. Zoheb Hossain, Advocate, Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, Advocate, Ms. Deepabali Dutta, Advocate, Mr. S.V.Raju, Sr. ASG, Ms. Aastha Mehta, Advocate, Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, Advocate, Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, ASG, Ms. Archana Pathak Dave, Advocate, Mr. Sughosh Subramanium, Advocate, Ms. Swarupama Chaturvedi, Advocate, Mr. B. V. Balaram Das, Advocate, Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, ASG, Mr. G.S Makker, Advocate, Ms. Archana Pathak Dave, Advocate, Ms. Swarupama Chaturvedi, Advocate, Mr. Sughosh Subramanyam, Advocate, Mr. A. Mariarputham, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Avneesh Arputham, Advocate, Ms. Anuradha Arputham, Advocate, Mr. Praveen Kr. Singh, Advocate, M/S. Arputham Aruna And Co, Advocate, Mr. Tushar Mehta, SG, Mr. SV Raju, ASG, Mr. K.M. Nataraj, ASG, Mr. Vijay Mandal C. Advocate, Mr. Vinayak Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Vats Joshi, Advocate, Ms. Indira B, Advocate, Mr. Anuj Udupa, Advocate, Mr. Zoheb Hossain, Advocate, Mr. Syed Abdul Haseeb, Advocate, Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Advocate, Mr. Digvijay, Dam, Advocate, Mr. Rajat Nair, Advocate, Mr. Adit Khorana, Advocate, Ms. Sairica Raju, Advocate, Mr. Mayank Pandey, Advocate, Mr. Deepbali Datta, Advocate, Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, Advocate, Mr. Tushar Mehta, SGI, Mr. Jayant Kr. Sud, ASG, Mr. S.V. Raju, ASG, Mr. M.K. Maroria, Advocate, Mr. Rajan Kr. Chourasia, Advocate, Ms. Deepabali Duttai, Advocate, Mr. Mayank Pandey, Advocate, Ms. Sairica Raju, Advocate, Mr. Syed Abdul Haseeb, Advocate, Mr. Kanu Agarwal, Advocate, Mr. Zoheb Hussain, Advocate, Mr. Adit Khorana, Advocate, Mr. Om Prakash Taygi, Advocate, Mr. Tushar Mehta, SG, Mr. Suryaprakash V. Raju, ASG, Ms. Sairica Raju, Advocate, Mr. Zoheb Hussain, Advocate, Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Advocate, Mr. Sughosh Subramanyam, Advocate, Mr. B. Vinodh Kanna, Advocate, Mr. Tushar Mehta, SG, Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, ASG, Mr. Rajat Nair, Advocate, Ms. Shradha Deshmukh, Advocate, Mr. Vansaja Shukla, Advocate, Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, ASG, Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, Advocate, Ms. Archana Pathak Dave, Advocate, Ms. Swarupama Chaturvedi, Advocate, Mr. Sughosh Subramanyam, Advocate, Mr. B.K. Satija, AAG, Mr. Sanjay K., Advocate, Mr. Samar Vijay Singh, AAG, Ms. Ruchi Kohli, AAG, Ms. Monika Gusain, Advocate, Mr. Maninder Singh, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Varun Shankar, Advocate, Mr. Lakshman RS, Advocate, Mr. Atharva Koppal, Advocate, Mr. Divyanshu Jain, Advocate, Mr. Arnav Narain, Advocate, Mr. S.B. Upadhyay, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Pawan R. Upadhyay, Advocate, Mrs. Sharmila Upadhyay, Advocate, Ms. Anisha Upadhyay, Advocate, Mr. Sarvjit Pratap Singh, Advocate, Mr. Gaurav Prakash Pathak, Advocate, Mr. Nishant Kumar, Advocate, Mr. S. Niranjan Reddy, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Raghenth Basant, Advocate, Mr. Yogesh Raavi, Advocate, Mr. Anirudh Reddy, Advocate, Ms. Liz Mathew, Advocate, Ms. Roopali Lakhotia, Advocate, Mr. Siddharth Aggarwal, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Shishir Mathur, Advocate, Mr. Shohit Chaudhry, Advocate, Mr. Vikramjit Banerjee, ASG, Mr. Mukul Singh, Advocate, Mr. D.L. Chidnanad, Advocate, Mr. Amit Sharma, Advocate, Ms. Rukhimini Bobde, Advocate, Mr. A.K. Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Pramod K. Dubey, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Vivek Jain, Advocate, Mr. Hemant Shah, Advocate, Ms. Suchitra Kumbhat, Advocate, Mr. Pramod Kumar Dubey, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Hemant Shah, Advocate, Mr. Prithveesh MK, Advocate, Mr. Gurpreet S. Parwanda, Advocate, Mr. Nishanth Patil, Advocate, Ms. Malvika Kala, Advocate, Mr. Adarsh Aggarwal, Advocate, Mr. Ajay Aggarwal, Advocate, Mr. Rajan Narain, Advocate, Mr. Tushar Mehta, SG, Mr. Suryaprakash V.Raju, ASG, Ms. Sairica Raju, Advocate, Mr. Zoheb Hussain, Advocate, Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Advocate, Mr. Sughosh Subramanyam, Advocate, Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav, Advocate, Mr. Tushar Mehta, SG, Mr. Mayank Pandey, Advocate, Mr. Kanu Agarwal, Advocate, Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, Advocate, Mr. Tushar Mehta, SG, Mr. SV Raju, ASG, Mr. Aman Lekhi, ASG, Mr. Zoheb Hossain, Advocate, Mr. Kanu Agarwal, Advocate, Ms. Deepabali Datta, Advocate, Mr. M.K. Maroria, Advocate, Mr. Tushar Mehta, SG, Mr. SV Raju, ASG, Mr. Zoheb Hossain, Advocate, Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Advocate, Ms. Sairica S Raju, Advocate, Mr. Sughosh Subramanyam, Advocate, Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav, Advocate, Mr. Amit K Desai, Sr. Advocate, Mr. S. HariHaran, Advocate, Mr Naveen Malhotra, Advocate, Mr S. Mahesh Sahasranaman, Advocate, Mr Gopalkrishna Shenoy, Advocate, Ms. Jaikriti S. Jadeja, Advocate, Ms. Prapti Allagh, Advocate, Mr. Varun K. Chopra, Advocate, M/s VKC Law Offices, Advocate, Dr. Menaka Guruswamy, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Prateek K Chadha, Advocate, Ms. Ayushi Rajput, Advocate, Ms. Radhika Dhanotia, Advocate, Mr. Yash S. Vijay, Advocate, Mr. Shaffi Mather, Advocate, Mr. Aabad Ponda, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Parmatma Singh, Advocate, Mr. Mayank Jain, Advocate, Mr. Madhur Jain, Advocate, Ms Neha Sharma, Advocate, Ms. Binu Tamta, Advocate, Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Hitesh Kumar Sharma, Advocate, Mr.S.K. Rajora, Advocate, Mr. Akhileshwar Jha, Advocate, Mr. E.Vinay Kumar, Advocate, Dr. (Mrs.) Vipin Gupta, Advocate, Mr. Mayank Jain, Advocate, Mr. Madhur Jain, Advocate, Mr. Parmatma Singh, Advocate, Mr. Sourabh Kapoor, Advocate, Mr. Neeraj Kumar Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Subhash Jadhav, Advocate, Mr. Chandan Singh Shekhawat, Advocate, Mr. Pranav Sarthi, Advocate, Ms. Natabrata Bhattacharya, Advocate, [ Ms. Awantika Manohar, Advocate, Ms. Natasha Vinayak, Advocate, Mr. S. Hari Haran, Advocate, Ms. Jaikriti S. Jadeja, Advocate, Ms. Prapti Allagh, Advocate, Mr. Rakesh Dwivedi, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Rajiv Shankar Dvivedi, Advocate, Mr. Rishabh Jain, Advocate, Mr. Sushant Kr. Sarkar, Advocate, Ms. Arti Dvivedi, Advocate, Ms. Jyoti Kumar Singh, Advocate, Mr. Saurabh Mishra, Advocate, Mr. Sunil Fernandes, Advocate, Mr. Swaroop Anand, Advocate, Ms. Nupur Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Divyansh Tiwari, Advocate, Mr. Nagendra R. Naik, Advocate, Mr. Pai Amit, Advocate, Ms. Pankhuri Bhardwaj, Advocate, Mr. Saurabh Agrawal, Advocate, Ms. Komal Mudhra, Advocate, Mr. Abhiyudaya Vats, Advocate, Ms. Bhavana Duhoon, Advocate, Ms. Christi Jain, Advocate, Mr. Mahesh Jethmalani, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Hitesh Jain, Advocate, Mr. Subhash Jadhav, Advocate, Ms. Gunjan Mangla, Advocate, Mr. Chadan Singh Shekhawat, Advocate, Mr. Nikhil Ahuja, Advocate, Mr. Pranav Sarthi, Advocate, Mr. Tawanji Shukla, Advocate, Ms. Malvika Kapila, Advocate, Ms. Anjali Jha, Advocate, Ms. Anjali Jha Manish, Advocate, Mr. Priyadarshi Manish, Advocate, Ms. Divyanshee Singh, Advocate, Mr. Shivam Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Raj Kishor Choudhary, Advocate, Mr. Varun Raghavan, Advocate, Mr. Shakeel Ahmed, Advocate, Ms. Malvika Raghavan, Advocate, Mr. Satish Pandey, Advocate, Mr. Akbar Ali, Advocate, Mr. Prabhoo Dayal Tiwari, Advocate, Mr. Salim Ansari, Advocate, Mr. Rajesh Pandey, Advocate, Mr. Akbar Ali, Advocate, Mr. Vikas Gupta, Advocate, Mr. S. K. Verma, Advocate, Mr. Vishal Shrivastava, Advocate, Mr. Narender Hooda, Advocate, Mr. Shaurya Lamba, Advocate, Ms. Pallavi Hooda, Advocate, Mr. Ashutosh Kumar, Advocate, Ms. Seema Sindhu, Advocate, Ms. Aalia Siddiqui, Advocate, Dr. Surender Singh Hooda, Advocate, Ms. Preeti Singh, Advocate, Dr. G.K.Sarkar, Advocate, Mrs. Malbika Sarkar, Advocate, Mr. Avadh Bihari Kaushik, Advocate, Mr. Devanshu Yadav, Advocate, Dr. G.K. Sarkar, Advocate, Mrs. Malbika Sarkar, Advocate, Mr. Prashant Srivatav, Advocate, Mr. Ayush Choudhary, Advocate, Mr. Devanshu Yadav, Advocate, Mr. Ayush Choudhary, Advocate, Mr. Devanshu Yadav, Advocate, Mr. Sameer Pandey, Advocate, Mr. Gautam Awasthi, Advocate, Mr. Gautam Awasthi, Advocate, Mr. Ayush Choudhary, Advocate, Mr. Devanshu Yadav, Advocate, Mr. Sameer Pandey, Advocate, Mr. Mukul Rohatgi, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Omar Ahmed, Advocate, Mr. Malak Manish Bhatt, Advocate, Ms. Neeha Nagpal, Advocate, Mr. Vishendra Tomar, Advocate, Mr. Aditya Gupta, Advocate, Mr. Jaspal Singh, Advocate, Ms. Neeha Nagpal, Advocate, Mr. Malak Manish Bhatt, Advocate, Mr. Vijay Aggarwal, Advocate, Mr. Mudit Jain, Advocate, Mr. Yugant Sharma, Advocate, Ms. Astha Sharma, Advocate, Ms. Mantika Haryani, Advocate, Mr. Ajit Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Prithvees MK, Advocate, Mr. Nishanth Patil, Advocate, Ms. Shubhika Saluja, Advocate, Ms. Malvika Kala, Advocate, Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Vivek Jain, Advocate, Mr. Zulfiquar Memom, Advocate, Mr. Mrinal Bharti, Advocate, Mr. Parvez Memom, Advocate, Mr. Chirag Naik, Advocate, Ms. Vaijayanti Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Nirvikar Singh, Advocate, Mr. Manish Shekhari, Advocate, Mr. Palash Bhatkoti, Advocate, Ms. Vaijayanti Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Nitin Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Karan Bharihoke, Advocate, Mr. Kunal Verma, Advocate, Mr. E. M. S. Anam, Advocate, Mr. Vishnu Shanker, Advocate, Ms. Ranjana Roy Gawai, Advocate, Ms. Vasudha Sen, Advocate, Mr. Arshdeep Singh Khurana, Advocate, Mr. Ujjawal Jain, Advocate, Ms. Divya Roy, Advocate, Mr. Sunil Kumar Jain, Advocate, Mr. Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, Advocate, Mr. Irshad Ahmad, Advocate, Mr. Shailesh Madiyal, Advocate, Mr. Sudhanshu Prakash, Advocate, Mr. Vaibhav Sabhrawal Advocate, Ms. Rakhi M., Advocate, Mr. Rajan Parmar, Advocate, Mr. Vinayaka S. Pandit, Advocate, Ms. Neha Jain, Advocate, Mr. Sudhanshu Prakash, Advocate, Mr. Sruthi Iyer, Advocate, Mr. Neha Jain, Advocate, Mr. Shailesh Madiyal, Advocate, Mr. Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, Advocate, Ms. Kanishka Prasad Advocate, Mr. Abbula kalam, Advocate, Mr. Ibad Mushtaq, Advocate, Ms. Akanksha Rai Advocate, Mr. S.B. Upadhyay, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Pawan Upadhyay, Advocate, Mrs. Sharmila Upadhyay, Advocate, Ms. Anisha Upadhyay, Advocate, Mr. S. S. Sastry, Advocate, Mr. Rajender Vats, Advocate, Mr. Nishant Kr. Advocate, Mr. Gaurav P. Pathak Advocate, Mr. Vipul Srivastav, Advocate, Mr. Sarvjit Pratap Singh, Advocate, M/S. Unuc Legal Llp, Advocate, M/S. Ap & J Chambers, Advocate, Mr. Bharadwaj S., Advocate, Mr. Guru Prasanna S., Advocate, Mr. Ranjit Kumar Sharma, Advocate, Mrs. Priya Puri, Advocate, Mr. Arshdeep, Advocate, Mr. Sharad Puri, Advocate, Mr. Ranjay Dubey, Advocate, Mr. Yati Sharma, Advocate, Mr. G.Sivabalamurugan, Advocate, Mr. Aljo K. Joseph, Advocate, Mr. Ranjan Kumar, Advocate, Mrs. Shelna K., Advocate, Mr. Nikilesh Ramachandran, Advocate, Mr. Amit K. Nain, Advocate, Mr. Manish Pratap Singh, Advocate, Ms. Mahima Bhardwaj, Advocate, Mr. Vivek Narayan Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Manish Pratap Singh, Advocate, Ms. Mahima Bhardwaj, Advocate, Mr. Tushar Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Rajeev Kumar Jha, Advocate, Mr. Pranshu Kaushal, Advocate, Mr. Shubham Awasthi, Advocate, Mr. Ajay Singh, Advocate, Mr. Abhinav Raghav, Advocate, Mr. Braj K. Mishara, Advocate, Mr. Vijay Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Arun Raghavender, Advocate, Ms. Bharti Tyagi, Advocate, Mr. Shantanu M. Adkar, Advocate, Mr. R. Lakshmishankar, Advocate, Mr. S. Udaya Kumar Sagar, Advocate, Ms. Bina Madhavan, Advocate, Mr. Sanjay Indukuri, Advocate, Mr. R. Narayan Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Shanker, Advocate, Ms. Akanksha Mehra, Advocate, Mr. Narayan Verma, Advocate, Ms. Rao Vishwaja, Advocate, M/S. Lawyer’s S Knit & Co, Advocate, Mr. Akshay Nagarajan, Advocate, Mr. Rishi Malhotra, Advocate, Ms. Sonia Dube, Advocate, Mr. Shatadru Chakraborty, Advocate, Ms. Kanchan Yadav, Advocate, Mr. Surbhi Anand, Advocate, M/S. Legal Options, Advocate, Mr. Tanveer Ahmed Mir, Advocate, Mr. Arjun Singh Bhati, Advocate, Mr. Dhruv Gupta, Advocate, Mr. Vaibhav Suri, Advocate, Mr. Prabhav Ralli, Advocate, Ms. Urja Pandey, Advocate, Mr. Amit Gupta, Advocate, Mr. Akhilesh Dubey, Advocate, Mr. Dharmesh Joshi, Advocate, Mr. Uttam Dubey, Advocate, Mr. Hari Sankar Mahaptra, Advocate, Mr. Bhavini Sribastava, Advocate, M/S. Mitter & Mitter Co., Advocate, Mr. Neeraj Kumar Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Gursharan S. Virk, Advocate, Mr. Nakul Mohta, Advocate, Ms. Misha Rohatgi, Advocate, Mr. Devansh Shrivastava, Advocate, Mr. Johnson Subba, Advocate, Mr. Bharat Moga, Advocate, Mr. Deepak Prakash, Advocate, Mr. Abhishek A. Rastogi, Advocate, Mr. Pratushpava Saha, Advocate, Mr. Mahir Chablani, Advocate, Mr. Rohit Ghosh, Advocate, Ms. Kanika Sharma, Advocate, M/S. Khaitan & Co., Advocate, Mr. M. T. George, Advocate, Ms. Susy, Advocate, Mr. Johns George, Advocate, Ms. Rashi Bansal, Advocate, Mr. Shekhar G Devasa, Advocate, Mr. Manish Tiwari, Advocate, Mr. Shashi Bhushan Nagar, Advocate, Mr. Prashanth R. Dixit, Advocate, Ms. Thashmitha K.M. Advocate, Mr. Ramesh Jadhav, Advocate, Ms. Satvisa Pattanayak, Advocate, M/S. Devasa & Co., Advocate, M/S. Ap & J Chambers, Advocate, Mr. Namit Saxena, Advocate, Mr. Awnish Maithani, Advocate, Ms. Arushi Dhawan, Advocate, Mr. M.K. Subramanian, Advocate, Mr. Vinodh Kanna B., Advocate, Mr. Vinodh Kanna B., Advocate, Mr. Ritesh Patil, Advocate, Mr. Shamik Shirishbhai Sanjanwala, Advocate, Ms. Diksha Rai, Advocate, Mr. Ankit Agarwal, Advocate, Mr. Prateek Bhardwaj, Advocate, Mr. Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki, Advocate, Mr. Polanki Gowtham, Advocate, Mr. Shaik Mohamad Haneef, Advocate, Mr. T. Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, Advocate, Mr. K.V. Girish Chowdary, Advocate, Ms. Rajeswari Mukherjee, Advocate, Mr. Devendra Kumar Singh, Advocate, Mr. Karunakar Mahalik, Advocate, Mr. B. Paramesh, Advocate, Mr. Roopam Rai, Advocate, Mr. Shyam Sundar Rai, Advocate, Mr. Manoranjan Mishra, Advocate, Ms. Gouranga Biswal, Advocate, Mrs. Anil Katiyar, Advocate, Mr. Syed Ahmed Saud, Advocate, Mr. Daanish Ahmad Syed, Advocate, Mr. Mohd. Parvez Dabas, Advocate, Mr. Uzmi Jameel Husain, Advocate, Mr. Aqib Baig, Advocate, Mr. Mohd. Shahib, Advocate, Mr. Sunil Saraogi, Advocate, Mr. Sarabjot Singh, Advocate, M/S. Shakil Ahmad Syed, Advocate, Dr. Sujay Kantawala, Advocate, Mr. Azmat Hayat Amanullah, Advocate, Mr. Nishant Awana, Advocate, Mr. Sagar Chauhan, Advocate, Ms. Nitya Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Gaurav T. Shahi, Advocate, Mr. Devansh Malhotra, Advocate, Mr. Sujit Sahoo, Advocate, Mr. Aditya Talpade, Advocate, Mr. Divyesh Pratap Singh, Advocate, Ms. Srishti Singh, Advocate, Mr. Gautam Talukdar, Advocate, Mr. A.P. Singh, Advocate, Mr. Shreyansh Rathi, Advocate, M/S. M. V. Kini & Associates, Advocate, Mr. Sarvesh Singh Baghel, Advocate, Mr. Mukhtar Alam, Advocate, Ms. Natasha, Advocate, Mr. B. Krishna Prasad, Advocate, Mr. M B R S Raju, Advocate, Mr. Balaji Srinivasan, Advocate, Mrs. Lakshmi Rao, Advocate, Mr. Prateek Yadav, Advocate, Ms. Garima Jain, Advocate, Ms. Aakriti Priya, Advocate, Mr. Shiva Krishnamurti, Advocate, Mr. V. Shyamohan, Advocate, Ms. Jaspreet Gogia, Advocate, Mr. Mandakini Singh, Advocate, Ms. Ashima Mandla, Advocate, Ms. Mandakini Singh, Advocate, Mr. Karanvir Gogia, Advocate, Ms. Shivangi Singhal, Advocate, Ms. Ashima Mandla, Advocate, Mr. O. P. Gaggar, Advocate, Mr. Ashoka Kumar Thakur, Advocate, Mr. Imran Khan, Advocate, Mr. Anil K. Chopra, Advocate, Mr. Shreeyash U. Lalit, Advocate, Mr. Mahesh Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Vishal Sharma, Advocate, Ms. Devika Khanna, Advocate, Mrs. V. D. Khanna, Advocate, Mr. Aniruddha P. Mayee, Advocate, Mr. Chirag M. Shroff, Advocate, Mr. Amandeep Mehta, Advocate, Mr. Gautam Awasthi, Advocate, Mr. Ayush Choudhary, Advocate, Mr. Devanshu Yadav, Advocate, Mr. Gautam Awasthi, Advocate, Mr. Ayush Choudhary, Advocate, Mr. Gaurav Malhotra, Advocate, Mr. Devanshu Yadav, Advocate, Mr. Sameer Pandey, Advocate, Mr. Samir Ali Khan, Advocate, Mr. Rahul Chitnis, Advocate, Mr. Sachin Patil, Advocate, Mr. Aaditya A. Pande, Advocate, Mr. Geo Joseph, Advocate, Ms. Shwetal Shepal, Advocate, Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, Advocate, Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, Advocate, Ms. Anu K. Joy, Advocate, Mr. Alim Anvar, Advocate, Mr. Akash Kakade, Advocate, Mr. Somanatha Padhan, Advocate, Mr. Swetab Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Sukhada Kakade, Advocate, Mr. Vishal Mahajan, AAG, Mr. Anil Kumar, Advocate, Mr.Suraj Kumar, Advocate, Dr. Monika Gusain, Advocate, Mr. Dinesh Kumar Sabharwal, Advocate, Mr. Sameer Bhatnagar, Advocate, Mr. Syed Mehdi Imam, Advocate, Mr. V. Vasudevan, Advocate, Mr. Aswathi M.K., Advocate, Mr. Birj Kant Mishra, Advocate, Mr. Hitesh Kumar Sharma, Advocate, Mr. S.K. Rajora, Advocate, Mr. Akhileshwar Jha, Advocate, Ms. Maneesha Kongovi, Advocate, Mr. R. Sudhinder, Advocate, Ms. Prerana Amitabh, Advocate, Mr. Shivabhushan Hatti, Advocate, Mr. Shashank Dixit, Advocate, Mr. R Gopalakrishan, Advocate, Mr. V. Vasudev, Advocate, Mr. Awasthi M.K., Advocate, Mr. Malak Manish Bhatt, Advocate, Mr. Gautam Khazanchi, Advocate, Ms. Neeha Nagpal, Advocate, Mr. Anshuman Sinha, Advocate, Mr. Vijay K. Pande, Advocate, Ms. Jaikriti S Jadeja, Advocate, Ms. Pragya Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Vinay Prakash, Advocate, Mr. Amit, Advocate, Mr. Maneesh Saxena, Advocate, Mr. Vipin Kumar Saxena, Advocate, Ms. Kajal Rani, Advocate, Ms. Natasha Dalmia, Advocate, Mr. Anand Varma, Advocate, Mr. Parmatma Singh, Advocate, Mr. Mayank Jain, Advocate, Mr. Madhur Jain, Advocate, Mr. A. Selvin Raja, Advocate, Mr. Tanveer Ahmed Mir, Advocate, Mr. Arjun Singh Bhati, Advocate, Mr. Dhruv Gupta, Advocate, Mr. Vaibhav Suri, Advocate, Mr. Prabhav Ralli, Advocate, Ms. Urja Pandey, Advocate, Mr. Abhimanyu Bhandari Advocate, Ms. Kartika Sharma Advocate, Mr. Arav Pandit Advocate, Mr. Shreyansh Agrawal Advocate, Ms. Rooh-e-Hina Dua, Advocate, Mr. Rajive Bhalla, Advocate, Mr. Rajiv Malhotra, Advocate, Mr. Yajur Bhalla, Advocate, Mr. Deepak Samota, Advocate, Mr. Sumeir Ahuja, Advocate, Mr. Shubham Bhalla, Advocate, Mr. B. Vinodh Kanna, Advocate, Mr. V. Purushothaman Reddy, Advocate, Mr. Gurusharan S. Virk, Advocate, Mr. Nakul Mohta, Advocate, Ms. Misha Rohatgi Mohta, Advocate, Mr. Devansh Shrivastava, Advocate, Mr. Johnson Subba, Advocate, Mr. Akash Kakade, Advocate, Mr. Somanath Padhan, Advocate, Mr. Ashok Anand, Advocate, Mr. Rakesh Kr. Singh, Advocate, Mr. Swetab Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Rajiv Shankar Dvivedi, Advocate, Mr. Rakesh Dwivedi, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Rishabh Jain, Advocate, Mr. Sushant Kr. Sarkar, Advocate, Mr. Jyoti Kumar Singh, Advocate, Ms. Arti Dvivedi, Advocate, Mr. Saurabh Mishra, Advocate, Mr. Sachin Jolly, Advocate, Mr. Akshay Anand, Advocate, Mr. Devanshu Yadav, Advocate, Mr. Gautam Awasthi, Advocate, Mr. Gautam Awasthi, Advocate, Dr. G.K. Sarkar, Advocate, Mrs. Malbika Sarkar, Advocate, Mr. Prashant Srivastav, Advocate, Mr. Devanshu Yadav, Advocate, Ms. Maneesha Kongovi Advocate, Mr. R Sudhinder Advocate, Ms. Prerana Amitabh Advocate, Mr. Shivabhushan Hatti Advocate, Mr. Shashank Dixit Advocate, Mr. R Gopalakrishnan Advocate, Mr. S. HariHaran, Advocate, Ms. Jaikriti S. Jadeja, Advocate, Mr. Vikas Singh, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Vishal Gosain, Advocate, Mr. Nagarkatti Kartik Uday, Advocate, Ms. Deepika Kalia, Advocate, Ms. Adya Rajkotia Luthra, Advocate, Mr. Sandeep Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Sunny Choudhary, Advocate, Mr. E. C. Agrawala, Advocate, Ms. Jaikriti S. Jadeja, Advocate, Mr. Raj Kamal, Advocate, Mr. Abhimanyu Bhandari, Advocate, Ms. Kartika Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Arav Pandit, Advocate, Ms. Ananya Skri, Advocate, Mr. Akarsh Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Shreyansh Agrawal, Advocate, Ms. Roohe Hina Dua, Advocate, Mr. Tushar Mehta, SG, Mr. Aman Lekhi, ASG, Mr. M.K.Maroria, Advocate, Ms. Deepabali Dutta Advocate, Mr. Zoheb Hussain Advocate, Mr. Kanu Agarwal Advocate, Mr. Wills Mathews, Advocate, Mr. Mathen Joseph, Advocate, Mr. Devendra Kumar Tiwari, Advocate, Mr. Paul John Edison, Advocate, Mr. Rakesh Garg, Advocate, Mr. Ashish Gopal Garg, Advocate, Ms. Shweta Garg, Advocate, Mr. Anshuman Srivastava, Advocate, Mr. Tushar Mehta, SG, Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Advocate, Mr. Zoheb Hussain, Advocate, Ms. Deepabali Dutta, Advocate, Mr. Navanjay Mahapatra, Advocate, Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Tushar Mehta, SG, Mr. S. V. Raju, ASG, Mr. M.K. Maroria, Advocate, Mr. Mayank Pandey, Advocate, Ms. Deepabali Dutta, Advocate, Mr. S.A. Haseeb, Advocate, Ms. Sairica Raju, Advocate, Mr. Zoheb Hussain, Advocate, Mr. Adit Khorana, Advocate, Mr. Kanu Agarwal, Advocate, Mr. N. Hariharan, Sr. Advocate, Mr. S. Hariharan, Advocate, Mr. Ankur Chawla, Advocate, Mr. Arshdeep Singh Khurana, Advocate, Mr. Naveen Malhotra, Advocate, Mr. S. Mahesh Sahasranaman, Advocate, Mr. Gopalkrishna Shenoy, Advocate, Ms. Jaikriti S. Jadeja, Advocate, Ms. Prapti Allagh, Advocate, Mr. V.K.Biju, Advocate, Ms. Ria Sachthey, Advocate, Mr. Chetanya Singh, Advocate, Mr. Amlendu Kumar Akhilesh Kumar Jha, Advocate, Mr. Abhay Pratap Singh, Advocate, Mr. Shaji George, Advocate, Ms. Vijay Laxmi, Advocate, Mr. T. G. Narayanan Nair, Advocate, Ms. Shweta Garg, Advocate, Mr. G. Prakash, Advocate, Mr. Tushar Mehta, SG, Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, ASG, Mr. Sanjay Jain, ASG, Mr. Rajat Nair, Advocate, Ms. Shradha Deshmukh , Advocate, Mr. Vansaja Shukla, Advocate, Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, Advocate, Mr. D.Kumanan, Advocate, Mr. Narender Kumar Verma, Advocate, Mr. Pranav Sachdeva, Advocate, Mr. K. Paari Vendhan, Advocate, Ms. Uma Devi. M, Advocate, Counsel for the Appearing Parties.
Cases Referred
A. Kamarunnisa Ghori vs. The Chairperson, Prevention of Money Laundering, Union of India, 2012 (4) CTC 608 : 2012 Writ LR 719
A.K. Roy vs. Union of India & Ors., (1982) 1 SCC 271
A.R. Antulay v. R.S. Nayak, (1992) 1 SCC 225
A.R. Antulay vs. R.S. Nayak & Anr., AIR 1988 SC 1531 : (1988) 2 SCC 602
A.R. Antulay vs. Ramdas Sriniwas Nayak & Anr. (1984) 2 SCC 500
Abdullah Ali Balsharaf & Anr. vs. Directorate of Enforcement & Ors., 2019 SCC Online Del 6428
Aghnoo Nagesia vs. State of Bihar, AIR 1966 SC 119
Ahmed Noormohmed Bhatti vs. State of Gujarat & Ors., (2005) 3 SCC 647
Ajay Kumar Gupta & Ors. vs. Adjudicating Authority (PMLA) & Ors., (2017) 2 LW (Cri) 252
Ajmer Singh & Ors. vs. Union of India & Ors., (1987) 3 SCC 340
Alive Hospitality and Food Private Limited vs. Union of India & Ors., 2013 SCC OnLine Guj 3909
Anandji Haridas and Co. (P) Ltd. vs. S.P. Kasture & Ors., AIR 1968 SC 565
Anuradha Bhasin vs. Union of India & Ors., 2020 (3) SCC 637
Apparel Export Promotion Council vs. A.K. Chopra, (1999) 1 SCC 759
Arnab Manoranjan Goswami vs. State of Maharashtra & Ors., (2021) 2 SCC 427
Arnesh Kumar vs. State of Bihar & Anr., (2014) 8 SCC 273
Arun Kumar Mishra vs. Directorate of Enforcement, 2015 SCC OnLine Del 8658
Asbury Hospital vs. Cass County, 326 US 207 [1945]
Ashok Munilal Jain & Anr. vs. Assistant Director, Directorate of Enforcement, (2018) 16 SCC 158
Assistant Collector of Central Excise, Guntur vs. Ramdev Tobacco Company, (1991) 2 SCC 119
Assistant Electrical Engineer vs. Satyendra Rai & Anr., (2014) 4 SCC 513
Associated Indem Mechanical (P) Ltd. vs. W.B. Small Industries Development Corpn. Ltd., & Ors. (2007) 3 SCC 607
Aswini Kumar Ghose & Anr. vs. Arabinda Bose & Anr, AIR 1952 SC 369
Attorney General for India & Ors. vs. Amratlal Prajivandas & Ors., (1994) 5 SCC 54
Attorney General for India & Ors. vs. Amratlal Prajivandas & Ors., (1994) 5 SCC 54
Attorney General vs. Wolfish, 441 US 520 (1979)
Attygalle & Anr. vs. The King, AIR 1936 PC 169
Ayya alias Ayub vs. State of U.P. & Anr., (1989) 1 SCC 374
B. Rama Raju vs. Union of India & Ors., 2011 SCC OnLine AP 152
Babu vs. State of Kerala, (2010) 9 SCC 189
Badaku Joti Svant vs. State of Mysore, AIR 1966 SC 1746
Bakhtawar Trust & Ors. vs. M.D. Narayan & Ors., (2003) 5 SCC 298
Baleshwar Rai & Ors. vs. The State of Bihar, (1963) 2 SCR 433
Balkishan A. Devidayal vs. State of Maharashtra, (1980) 4 SCC 600
Barendra Kumar Ghosh vs. The King Emperor, 1924 SCC OnLine PC 49 : AIR 1925 PC 1
Behram Khurshed Pesikaka vs. The State of Bombay, (1955) 1 SCR 613
Bhagirath vs. Delhi Administration, (1985) 2 SCC 580
Bhubaneshwar Singh & Anr. vs. Union of India & Ors., (1994) 6 SCC 77
Bidi Supply Co. vs. Union of India & Ors., AIR 1956 SC 479
Bihta Cooperative Development Cane Marketing Union Ltd. v. Bank of Bihar, (1967) 1 SCR 848 : AIR 1967 SC 389 : 37 Com Cas 98
Bijoe Emmanuel & Ors. vs. State of Kerala & Ors., (1986) 3 SCC 615
Biswanath Bhattacharya vs. Union of India and Ors., (2014) 4 SCC 392
Board of Muslim Wakfs, Rajasthan vs. Radha Kishan & Ors., (1979) 2 SCC 468
Bombay High Court in Chhagan Chandrakant Bhujbal vs. Union of India & Ors., 2016 SCC OnLine Bom 9938
C. Gupta vs. Glaxo-Smithkline Pharmaceuticals Ltd., (2007) 7 SCC 171
C. Sampath Kumar vs. Enforcement Officer, Enforcement Directorate, Madras, (1997) 8 SCC 358
Calcutta Motor Cycle Co. vs. Collector of Customs & Ors., 1955 SCC OnLine Cal 275
Canon India Private Limited vs. Commissioner of Customs, 2021 SCC OnLine SC 200
Central Bank of India vs. State of Kerala & Ors., (2009) 4 SCC 94
Central Bureau of Investigation vs. Ashok Kumar Aggarwal, (2014) 14 SCC 295
Central Bureau of Investigation vs. State of Rajasthan & Ors., (1996) 9 SCC 735
Central Bureau of Investigation vs. V.C. Shukla & Ors., (1998) 3 SCC 410
Chandroji Rao vs. Commissioner of Income Tax, M.P., Nagpur, (1970) 2 SCC 23
Chenna Boyanna Krishna Yadav vs. State of Maharashtra & Anr., (2007) 1 SCC 242
Cheviti Venkanna Yadav vs. State of Telangana & Ors., (2017) 1 SCC 283
Chicago & Alton Railroad Company vs. Henry A. Tranbarger, 238 U.S. 67
Chiranjit Lal Chowdhuri vs. The Union of India & Ors., (1950) SCR 869
Collector of Customs, Madras vs. Kotumal Bhirumal Pihlajani & Ors., 1966 SCC OnLine Mad 145
Collector of Customs, New Delhi vs. Ahmadalieva Nodira, (2004) 3 SCC 549
Collector of Malabar & Anr. vs. Erimmal Ebrahim Hajee, AIR 1957 SC 688
Commercial Taxation Officer, Udaipur vs. Rajasthan Taxchem Ltd., (2007) 3 SCC 124
Commissioner of Income Tax (Central)-I, New Delhi vs. Vatika Township Private Limited, (2015) 1 SCC 1
Commissioner of Income Tax I, Ahmedabad vs. Gold Coin Health Food Priv