The Delhi High Court has granted anticipatory bail to the person accused from whom 9.50 Metric Tonnes of coal was recovered and seized.
The bench of Justice Tejas Karia has observed that the ‘twin conditions’ under Section 45 is satisfied as there is reasonable ground to believe that the Applicant is not guilty of the offence under PMLA and that the Applicant is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.
The bench noted that the investigation is being carried out over a period of 5 years and during this period despite serving summons to the Applicant several times, no attempt was made by the Respondent Agency to apprehend the Applicant. It is not denied by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that the Applicant had joined the investigation and appeared 13 times before the ED in addition to providing the documents as sought by the ED.
The Applicant was a director of a company in the name and style of Mark Enclave Pvt. Ltd (MEPL). MEPL is engaged in the business of purchase and sale of coal. A raid was conducted by official(s) of Eastern Coalfield Limited (ECL) at Railway Siding in which 9.50 Metric Tonnes of coal was recovered and seized. A search and seizure operation(s) were carried out by the Income Tax Department at the Applicants‟ business premises under Section 132(4) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The CBI, Kolkata, registered an FIR against the Applicant and other identified public and private person(s) under Sections 409 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 read with Section 13(2) and Section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
The applicant contended that the investigation for this matter commenced 53 months ago and the Applicant has appeared before the Respondent Agency and recorded his statement under Section 50 of PMLA at least 13 times and has also supplied information by way of written representations. Despite joining the investigation and supplying the document, the Respondent Agency has continued to summon the Applicant under Section 50 of the PMLA without any justifiable reason.
The court noted that the Applicant is not likely to commit an offence while on bail as the Status Report filed by the ED does not mention that any offence has been committed since filing of the ECIR on 20.11.2020.
The court granted the Anticipatory Bail. In the event of arrest, it is directed that the Applicant shall be released on bail on furnishing personal bond for Rs. 2,00,000 with two sureties of the like amount subject to the satisfaction of the Respondent Agency, on the various terms and conditions.
Case Details
Case Title: Anup Majee Versus Directorate Of Enforcement
Case No.: BAIL APPLN.2070/2025 & CRL.M.A. 16931/2025
Date: 13/06/2025
Counsel For Petitioner: N. Hariharan, Sr. Advocate
Counsel For Respondent: Ansh Singh Luthra
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