Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Jan 8 : High Court has quashed the complaints made by the Enforcement Department (ED) before the Special Judge Anti-Corruption (CBI) under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against the former Chairman J&K State Cooperative Bank (JKSCB) Ltd and the Chairman of River Jhelum Co-operative House Building Society in Rs 250 crore loan scam.
Justice Javed Iqbal Wani while dealing with petitions moved by the former Chairman JKSCB, Mohammad Shafi Dar and the Chairman of River Jhelum Co-operative House Building Society, Hilal Ahmad Mir, against the complaints made by the ED against them under Money Laundering case concluded that the instant petitions succeed, as a consequence whereof, the impugned complaints qua the petitioners in both the petitions are quashed.
The ED after completion of the investigation in the ECIR, filed a complaint before the court of Special Judge, Anti-Corruption Bureau being Designated Court for the purposes of Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 wherein the petitioners came to be arrayed as accused alleged to have committed offence under Section 44 and 45 read with Section 70 of the PMLA.
Justice Wani while giving the reason of quashing the complaints made by ED said that none of the ingredients of the offence of money-laundering against the petitioners is found to be existing in the present case, more so in view of the fact that an act of mortgaging the property with the bank for securing the loan that is said to have been obtained fraudulently without following banking rules and regulations cannot by any stretch of imagination be termed as money-laundering and that the act of the petitioners of having fraudulently secured loan for development and establishment of satellite township by submitting false documents, at the most makes out a case for forgery or bank fraud.
“Further perusal of the record tends to show and as has been noticed, admittedly no money was transferred to the accounts of the petitioners, therefore, there was no occasion for the petitioners to indulge in any activity associated with the so called ‘proceeds of crime’ as the money that has been released out of the sanctioned loan, which is described as the ‘proceeds of crime’ in the complaint, had admittedly been transferred and credited directly into the accounts of the land owners and the petitioners had never been in possession or control of the said money, which is alleged to have been laundered”, Court added.
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