Enforcement Directorate & Anr. Vs Suman Chattopadhyay & Ors. (Calcutta High Court)
The appeal challenged the judgment of the learned Single Judge dated June 28, 2022, which had quashed a Provisional Attachment Order (PAO) dated March 29, 2022 issued under Section 5(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). The PAO provisionally attached five movable properties valued at approximately Rs. 63.5 lakhs and four immovable properties valued at about Rs. 2.23 crores belonging to the writ petitioners. The attachment arose from an investigation under ECIR dated March 15, 2021 relating to alleged financial dealings with the I-Core Group, which was found to be operating a ponzi scheme. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleged that funds amounting to at least Rs. 9.83 crores were received by the principal petitioner and his company and constituted proceeds of crime.
The writ petitioners challenged the attachment on grounds including absence of nexus between the properties and proceeds of crime, procedural lapses, lack of prior notice, and acquisition of certain properties prior to association with I-Core. The Single Judge quashed the PAO holding non-compliance with statutory requirements.
In appeal, the ED contended that the writ petition was not maintainable as statutory proceedings were already underway. An Original Complaint had been filed before the Adjudicating Authority under Section 5(5), show cause notices were issued under Section 8(1), and the attachment was subsequently confirmed under Section 8(3) on September 23, 2022. The respondents had also filed statutory appeals under Section 26 before the Appellate Tribunal (PMLA), which remained pending.
