Raman Bhuraria Vs Directorate of Enforcement (Delhi High Court)
Delhi High Court held that the applicant is established to be a mastermind of the whole operation only on the basis of statements under section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. Also, period of incarceration and delay in investigation justifies a prima facie release of applicant on bail.
Facts- On 31.12.2020, the CBI registered a FIR bearing No. RC0742020E0014 against M/s Shakti Bhog Foods Ltd. (hereinafter called as SBFL) and Mr. Kewal Krishan Kumar, Director/ Promoter of M/s SBFL under Section 120B read with Section 420/ 467/ 468/ 471 and 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (hereinafter called as PC Act).
The FIR was registered based on a written complaint dated 11.06.2020 lodged by the State Bank of India (SBI). The allegations in the FIR pertain to financial irregularity and siphoning of funds in relation to credit facilities obtained by SBFL from a consortium of banks led by the SBI and thereby causing a loss of Rs. 3269.42 crores.
The applicant was an internal auditor of the SBFL for the financial year 2008-09 till 2013-14, and a statutory auditor of SBFL for the financial year 2006-07.
Based upon the FIR, the respondent Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed the ECIR in which the applicant was not named as an accused.
The Special Judge (PC Act) rejected the bail application of the applicant on considerations of parameters of Section 45of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
Conclusion- The period of incarceration as well as the delay in investigation along with any reliable material which directly involved the Applicant justifies a prima facie release on bail. The only substantial evidence which is produced are the statements u/s 50 PMLA which too have been retracted.
These statements u/s 50 PMLA do not in my opinion, prima facie establish that the applicant was the mastermind of the whole operation.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF DELHI HIGH COURT
1. The present application is filed under Section 439 IPC read with Section 482 CrPC seeking bail in ECIR/12/DLZO-I/2021 dated 30.01.2021.
2. The applicant was arrested on the night of 12/13.08.2021 at 00:45 hrs. in the abovementioned ECIR, and thereafter remanded to Police Custody (PC) of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for a period of 14 days until 25.08.2021.
3. Thereafter, the applicant has been remanded to Judicial Custody (JC) from time to time and continues to remain incarcerated in Judicial Custody in Tihar Jail, Delhi.
4. The applicant had previously preferred two regular bail applications before the learned Trial Court and both have been rejected vide orders dated 05.10.2021 and 01.11.2021 respectively.
5. The brief facts giving rise to filing of the present bail application are as under:
6. On 31.12.2020, the CBI registered a FIR bearing No. RC0742020E0014 against M/s Shakti Bhog Foods Ltd. (hereinafter called as SBFL) and Mr. Kewal Krishan Kumar, Director/ Promoter of M/s SBFL under Section 120B read with Section 420/ 467/ 468/ 471 and 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (hereinafter called as PC Act).
7. The FIR was registered based on a written complaint dated 11.06.2020 lodged by the State Bank of India (SBI). The allegations in the FIR pertain to financial irregularity and siphoning of funds in relation to credit facilities obtained by SBFL from a consortium of banks led by the SBI and thereby causing a loss of Rs. 3269.42 crores.
8. The Ld counsel for the applicant states that the applicant was not named as an accused/ suspect in the FIR. As per the FIR, the review period/period under enquiry of offence was between 2013 and 2017.
9. The applicant was an internal auditor of the SBFL for the financial year 2008-09 till 2013-14, and a statutory auditor of SBFL for the financial year 2006-07.
10. In the column No.12 of the FIR, the observations of the I.O. read as under:-
