Mrs. Satya Goel & ORS. v. Union Of India & ANR.

$~85 *

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

+ W.P.(CRL) 96/2024, CRL.M.A. 800/2024, CRL.M.A. 801/2024 & CRL.M.A. 802/2024 MRS. SATYA GOEL & ORS.

..... Petitioners Through:

Mr. Manish Kaushik & Mr. Ajit Joher, Adv.

versus UNION OF INDIA & ANR.

..... Respondents Through:

Mr. Anurag Ahluwalia, CGSC with Kaushal Jeet Kait, GP for UOI/R-1.

Mr. Zoheb Hossain, Special Counsel for ED with Mr. Vivek Gurnani, Mr.

Kartik Sabharwal, Mr. Kanish Maurya & Ms. Radhika, Advs. through V.C.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AMIT MAHAJAN

O R D E R

% 09.01.2024 1.

The present petition has been filed seeking the following reliefs:

"(a) Pass an Order allowing the Present Writ Petition; (b) Pass an Order Releasing the assets of the Petitioners seized under the Panchnama dated 24.05.2023;

(c) Pass an Order Declaring that the properties of the Petitioners seized under the Panchnama dated 24.05.2023 cannot be held to be from proceeds of crime and the Petitioners are bona-fide acquirers of properties for good consideration without knowledge of tainted money and tainted transactions;

(d) Pass an Order declaring that the properties of the Petitioners seized under the Panchnama dated 24.05.2023 are liable to be placed outside the PMLA proceedings/attachment proceedings;

e. Pass any other order(s) that this Hon'ble Court may deem fit."

2.

The assets of the petitioners were seized by Respondent The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 13/05/2024 at 12:29:47

No. 2 while exercising power under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).

3.

The order of seizure has been confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority (AA) in terms of Section 8 of the PMLA. The order passed by the AA under Section 8 of the PMLA can challenged by any person aggrieved from such order by filing an appeal before the Appellate Tribunal in terms of Section 26 of the PMLA. Clearly, the petitioners have an efficacious alternate remedy to challenge the order passed by the AA. The petitioners are entitled to take all grounds as may be available under the law. In case the petitioners are aggrieved by the order passed by the Appellate Tribunal, the remedy is available to file an appeal in terms of Section 42 of the PMLA before the concerned High Court.

4.

In view of the above, the writ petition is dismissed with liberty to the petitioner to approach the Appellate Tribunal. AMIT MAHAJAN, J JANUARY 9, 2024 "SK"

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 13/05/2024 at 12:29:47