Sri Subrata Ghosh Vs Deputy Director (Appellate Tribunal Under SAFEMA At Delhi)
Sleeping Over Litigation Costs Dear- 15-Year Delay Proves Fatal – Tribunal Rejects Subrata & Family’s PMLA Appeals Filed After 5270 Days!
The Appellate Tribunal under SAFEMA, New Delhi dismissed four connected appeals filed by Sri Subrata Ghosh, Sri Palak Ghosh, Sri Swadhin Ghosh & Smt. Mili Ghosh, challenging the Adjudicating Authority’s order dated 23.09.2009, which had confirmed the Provisional Attachment Order dated 30.04.2009 under PMLA, 2002.
The appellants filed their appeals only on 16.04.2024, after a staggering delay of 5270 days (about 15 years), accompanied by a plea for condonation of delay. Their counsel argued that since a writ petition (No. 11978/2009) had been pending before the Calcutta High Court challenging the provisional attachment, & the advocate handling the matter had died in 2021, they were unaware of the final adjudication order & thus could not file the appeal earlier.
Rejecting this plea, the Tribunal observed that the appellants had actively participated in the adjudication proceedings before the Authority in 2009, & were therefore fully aware of the final order. The writ petition before the High Court only challenged the provisional attachment, not the final order, & hence could not suspend limitation. The Tribunal ruled that Section 14 of the Limitation Act (exclusion for bona fide proceedings) was inapplicable, as the writ was unrelated to the impugned order
