Case Law Details
Musaddilal Gems and Jewels (India) Private Limited Vs Union of India (Telangana High Court)
Telangana High Court held that issuance of search warrant without recording the ‘reasons to believe’ is against the provisions of section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 and accordingly the same is liable to be set aside.
Facts- Here, the petitioners are challenging the search and seizure conducted on 17.10.2022 and consequential panchanamas contrary to the Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act
The petitioners submitted that the search warrant dated 17.10.2022 was only shown and signatures were forcefully taken and the petitioners could not read the contents of the search warrant. The respondents failed to provide the details of the date and time for the recording of the ‘reasons to believe’ as per the Section 17 (1) of PMLA, 2002 and also failed to provide the contents of the reasons and further the respondents also failed to provide the dispatch details of the postal acknowledgment through which the reasons were communicated and failed to meet the mandatory provisions of Secton-17 of PML Act. The Writ Petition is maintainable under Article 226 by virtue of the full bench judgment of Hon’ble Apex Court.
Conclusion- This Court is of considered view that the Additional Director of the Enforcement Directorate without recording the ‘reasons to believe” issued search warrant/authorisation to his subordinates and the Deputy Director of the Enforcement recorded the reasons to believe without any date and time, which clearly shows that without following the requirements under Section 17 (1) of PML Act conducted search and seizure and seized jewellery, cash and other articles belonging to the petitioners.
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