JSW Steel Limited Etc. Vs Deputy Director (Supreme Court of India)
Summary: The Supreme Court disposed of the appeals filed by JSW Steel Limited and others arising from proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). The supplied Supreme Court order records that Justice Augustine George Masih pronounced the judgment of the Bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Augustine George Masih and that the appeals were disposed of in terms of a signed non-reportable judgment. The supplied Supreme Court text does not reproduce that signed judgment or its reasons. Accordingly, no conclusion is drawn from the supplied material regarding the substantive reasoning adopted by the Supreme Court or the precise manner in which it dealt with the findings of the Karnataka High Court.
The appeals arose from a Karnataka High Court common judgment concerning two writ petitions filed by JSW Steel. W.P. No. 7499 of 2022 sought quashing of proceedings, including investigation emanating from ECIR/09/BZ/2012, while W.P. No. 11399 of 2022 additionally challenged the Special Court’s order dated 11 April 2022 taking cognizance and issuing summons. The High Court dismissed both petitions. It considered itself bound by an earlier inter-parties Coordinate Bench ruling and also declined to revisit an issue pending before the Supreme Court. On cognizance, it applied Pradeep S. Wodeyar v. State of Karnataka, 2021 SCC OnLine SC 1140, and held that the Special Judge’s order demonstrated the requisite application of mind.
Supreme Court Order
The Supreme Court order supplied for the present appeals is brief. It records that Justice Augustine George Masih pronounced the judgment of the Bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Augustine George Masih.
