Veracity of Prosecution Case of PMLA Offence shall be Established during Trial: Punjab and Haryana HC [Read Order]

In a recent decision the Punjab and Haryana High Court ruled that the veracity of the prosecution case of offence under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) shall be established during the trial.

The petitioner, Anita Seth and her husband along with other family members were accused under Sections 44, 45 of the PMLA, 2002 read with Section 3, 71 and punishable under Section 4 of the PMLA, 2002. The petitioner and her husband were summoned to face trial in the said complaint case. While the petitioner was granted the concession of anticipatory bail, her husband was taken into custody.

As per the allegations, at the time of release on bail, the petitioner had allegedly furnished forged sureties to the Court in order to obtain the release of her husband Suresh Seth. The petitioner had purportedly produced imposters with forged Aadhaar Cards while impersonating the actual Gurmej Singh and Hardev Singh’s sons. On a complaint of the Court, an enquiry was conducted by the investigating agency leading to the registration of the instant FIR.

The Counsel for the petitioner contended that once the husband of the petitioner had been released on the basis of the FDR, no cause was left for the petitioner to produce any other persons as sureties and reiterated that the fictitious persons had not been produced by the petitioner but rather by some relatives of her husband and the petitioner was unaware about the said fact.

The Counsel further contended that even during the course of investigation, no link was established between her and the alleged imposters Gurmej Singh and Hardev Singh. As the petitioner was a lady of the age of 52 years and was also ailing with multiple health issues, she was entitled to the concession of bail as the case was otherwise triable by the Court of a Magistrate, she was in custody and none of the 16 prosecution witnesses had been examined so far thereby delaying the conclusion of the Trial.

The Counsel for the State on the other hand contends that a serious fraud was played upon the court at the instance of the petitioner. Therefore, she did not deserve any sympathy whatsoever. She however, states that the petitioner is a first time offender, in custody since 23.01.2023 and none of the 16 prosecution witnesses had been examined.

A Single Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court of Justice Jasjit Singh Bedi observed that “The veracity of the prosecution case against the petitioner shall be established during the course of Trial. Nothing significant has been pointed out by the State that the petitioner would abscond from the Trial, tamper with the evidence or influence the witnesses if she is granted the concession of regular bail.”

To Read the full text of the Order CLICK HERE

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