Madras High Court
M/S.Gold Quest International ... vs The Appellate Tribunal Under The on 10 January, 2023
W.P.No.483 of 2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED 10.01.2023
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE Mr.JUSTICE P.N.PRAKASH
AND
THE HONOURABLE Mr.JUSTICE N.ANAND VENKATESH
W.P.No.483 of 2023
AND
W.M.P.No.434 of 2023
M/s.Gold Quest International Pvt. Ltd.
Rep. by its Director
Selvi Pushpam Appala Naidu
No.7, Rain Tree Place
9th Floor, McNichols Road
Chetpet, Chennai 600 031 .. Petitioner
Vs.
1.The Appellate Tribunal under the
Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2005
New Delhi
Rep. by its Registrar
'A' Wing, 4th Floor
Loknayak Bhawan
Khan Market, New Delhi 110 003
2.The Adjudicating Authority under the
Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2005
New Delhi
3.The Directorate of Enforcement
Rep. by the Assistant Director
Government of India, Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
2nd and 3rd Floor, Murugesa Naicker Complex
No.84, Greams Road, Chennai 600 006 .. Respondents
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W.P.No.483 of 2023
Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying
to issue a writ of mandamus directing the 3rd respondent to lift the attachment of
the petitioner's properties forming part of the attachment order in provisional
attachment order No.08/2017 dated 05.04.2017 passed by the 3rd respondent,
pending disposal of the appeal filed by the petitioner before the 1st respondent.
For Petitioner : Mr.P.Ramesh Kumar
For Respondents : Mr.S.Sasikumar
Special Public Prosecutor (ED)
ORDER
[Made by P.N.PRAKASH, J.]
This writ petition has been filed seeking a direction to the
3rd respondent to lift the attachment of the petitioner's property forming part of
the attachment order in provisional attachment order No.08/2017 dated
05.04.2017, pending disposal of Appeal No.1980 of 2017 filed by the petitioner
before the 1st respondent.
2. The minimum facts that are required for deciding this writ petition
are as under:
2.1. An FIR in Crime No.454 of 2008 for the offences under Sections
4, 5 and 6 of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act,
1978, and Section 420 read with Section 120-B IPC, was registered by the
Sembium police against one M/s.Gold Quest International Pvt. Ltd. and others.
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W.P.No.483 of 2023
2.2. Since the aforesaid FIR disclosed the commission of a scheduled
offence under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 (in short “the
PML Act”), the Enforcement Directorate registered a case in ECIR No.11 of
2016 and passed a provisional attachment order No.8 of 2017 dated
05.04.2017, attaching the properties belonging to M/s.Gold Quest International
Pvt. Ltd. This provisional order of attachment was confirmed by the
Adjudicating Authority, by order dated 29.08.2017 in O.C.No.772 of 2017.
Aggrieved by the order of the Adjudicating Authority, the petitioner has
preferred an appeal in Appeal No.1980 of 2017 in the Appellate Tribunal under
the PML Act and the same is admittedly pending.
2.3. While that being so, it may be necessary to advert to the
developments that took place in the predicate offence. It is seen that the
investigation was completed in Crime No.454 of 2008 and a final report was
filed in C.C.No.3876 of 2009 in the Special Court for CCB Cases, Chennai,
against M/s.Gold Quest International Pvt. Ltd. and others.
2.4. During the pendency of this prosecution, a petition was moved
in this Court, in a proceeding under Section 482 Cr.P.C. in Crl.O.P.No.24461
of 2016 seeking appointment of an Advocate Commissioner to settle the claims
of various parties. That apart, another petition was filed Crl. O.P. No.30144 of
2019 seeking quashment of the aforesaid case in C.C.No.3876 of 2009.
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W.P.No.483 of 2023
2.5. While so, this Court, vide a common order dated 02.01.2020,
dismissed Crl.O.P. No.24461 of 2016 as having become infructuous in view of
appointment of Mr. Justice S. Jagadeesan as an Administrator vide order dated
23.10.2017 passed earlier, and allowed Crl.O.P. No.30144 of 2019 quashing the
prosecution in C.C.No.3876 of 2009. Thus, from the above, it is clear that the
prosecution for the scheduled offence against the petitioner does not survive
any longer.
2.6. Now, coming to the scheduled offence, the Enforcement
Directorate completed their investigation and filed a complaint in C.C.No.7 of
2018 in the Special Court for PML Act Cases, Chennai, against M/s.Gold Quest
International Pvt. Ltd. and others for the offences under Section 3 read with
Section 4 of the PML Act, seeking quashment of which, Crl.O.P. No.2279 of
2019 was filed before this Court by the petitioner herein along with certain
others. Consequent to the quashment of the predicate offence by this Court by
order dated 02.01.2020 in Crl.O.P. No.30144 of 2019, this Court, in
Crl.O.P.No.2279 of 2019, quashed the prosecution initiated by the Enforcement
Directorate in C.C.No.7 of 2018 vide order dated 12.09.2022, relying upon the
judgment of the Supreme Court in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary and others vs.
Union of India and others [2022 SCC OnLine SC 929], holding that when the
predicate offence itself has been quashed, the prosecution of the same accused
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W.P.No.483 of 2023
under the PML Act, cannot be sustained. Thus, as on today, the petitioner is
facing prosecution neither for the predicate offence nor for the scheduled
offence under the PML Act.
2.7. While so, it is the grievance of the petitioner that, on account of the
provisional order of attachment, as confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority,
the properties attached thereunder are under encumbrance and therefore, they
are not able to deal with the same. Under such circumstances, the petitioner has
filed the instant petition seeking the relief as stated in the opening paragraph.
3. We explained to the learned counsel for the petitioner that earlier, there
was no Presiding Officer in the Appellate Tribunal for PML Act Cases for a
very long time and therefore, this Court was entertaining writ petitions in order
to provide relief for the parties; however, now, Hon'ble Mr.Justice Munishwar
Nath Bhandari, former Chief Justice of this Court, has been appointed as the
Chairman of the Appellate Tribunal and when the Appellate Tribunal is very
much functioning, it may not be appropriate for this Court to entertain this writ
petition.
4. As a riposte, the learned counsel for the petitioner brought to the
notice of this Court that the petitioner submitted a memo to the Appellate
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W.P.No.483 of 2023
Tribunal on 16.12.2022, setting out all these facts and requesting the Appellate
Tribunal to dispose of the appeal and that the said appeal was adjourned to
17.01.2023.
5. Be that as it may, we are not inclined to entertain this writ petition,
especially, in the light of the fact that the Appellate Tribunal is functional and
the appeal filed by petitioner is pending. Though this Court, under Article 226
of the Constitution of India, does have the power to issue directions to a
Tribunal constituted under an enactment, we do not want to do that and instead,
we request the Appellate Tribunal for PML Act Cases to take into consideration
the aforesaid facts and dispose of the petitioner's appeal in Appeal No.1980 of
2017, expeditiously.
With the above observations, this writ petition stands disposed of.
No costs. Connected W.M.P. stands closed.
[P.N.P., J.] [N.A.V.,J.]
10.01.2023
gya
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W.P.No.483 of 2023
To
1.The Registrar
Appellate Tribunal under the
Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2005
'A' Wing, 4th Floor
Loknayak Bhawan
Khan Market, New Delhi 110 003
2.The Adjudicating Authority under the
Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2005
New Delhi
3.The Assistant Director
Directorate of Enforcement
Government of India, Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
2nd and 3rd Floor, Murugesa Naicker Complex
No.84, Greams Road, Chennai 600 006
4.The Public Prosecutor
High Court, Madras
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W.P.No.483 of 2023
P.N.PRAKASH, J.
AND
N.ANAND VENKATESH, J.
gya
W.P.No.483 of 2023
10.01.2023
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