Voluntary recorded statements before Senior Intelligence Officer cannot constitute pre-SCN consultation

Omaxe New Chandigarh Developers Pvt. Ltd. Vs Union of India & Ors (Delhi High Court) We are of the view that ‘voluntary statements’ recorded before the Senior Intelligence Officer cannot constitute pre-show cause notice consultation as envisaged in the paragraph 5 of the 2017 Master Circular. Consultation entails discussion and deliberation. There is back and forth between parties concerned with the consultative process, leading to, metaphorically speaking, often, separation of wheat from the chaff. A voluntary statement is at best a one-way dialogue made before an authority wh...