Nagpur: The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court on Monday has quashed the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR ) against Pankaj Mehadia, Nagpur’s steel trader embroiled in allegations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The petitioners are Pankaj Nandlal Agrawal (Mehadia) (48), resident of Lendra Park, Ramdaspeth; Balmukund Lalchand Keyal (55), resident of Deshpande Layout; Premlata Nandlal Mehadia (70), Kartik Santosh Jain (42), both residents of Golchha Marg, Sadar. The respondents are Secretary, Ministry of Finance, New Delhi; Directorate of Enforcement, Seminary Hills, Nagpur; Police Station Sitabuldi, Nagpur. The High Court’s ruling centred on the contention that the ECIR, filed by the ED, lacked sustainable grounds following the quashing of a related First Information Report (FIR) under the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act (MPIDA).
Today’s Rate
Wed 4 Dec. 2024
The court reiterated that for offences under PMLA to proceed, there must be a substantiated predicate offence, which was absent in this case after the underlying MPIDA charges were nullified. Counsel of the petitioners relied on the verdict in Indrani Patnaik Vs. Enforcement Directorate; AIRONLINE 2022 SC 1496, and argued that the ECIR was redundant following the quashing of a related First Information Report (FIR) and subsequent chargesheet in August 2023.
The Division Bench of Justice Vibha Kankanwadi and Justice Vrushali Joshi, in its order, observed that both the FIR and the ECIR were based on the same complaint, and with the quashing of the FIR, any further proceedings on similar grounds would be futile. Citing legal precedents including Indrani Patnaik vs. Enforcement Directorate, the court underlined that once scheduled offences are discharged, subsequent actions under PMLA lose basis.
However, in a nuanced approach, the Court granted liberty to the Enforcement Directorate to revive proceedings under PMLA if fresh material justifying such action emerges.
Senior Adv S V Manohar assisted by Adv Anand Daga, Adv Romil Jain represented the petitioners. DSGI N S Deshpande for Enforcement Directorate, APP Nikhil Joshi appeared for the State and Adv Sumedh Kadam represented for intervenor.
According to media reports, the case is related to an investment fraud-cum-money laundering racket run by Pankaj Mehadia and his accomplices where they duped investors of hundreds of crores and laundered huge amounts of money.
