'No Predicate Offence, No Proceeds Of Crime; So No Money Laundering' : Supreme Court Tells ED In Chhattisgarh Liquor Case

Observing that there was no predicate offence and proceeds of crime, the Supreme Court on Friday (April 5) expressed the inclination to quash the money laundering case against some accused in relation to the alleged Chhattisgarh liquor policy scam.

A bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan was hearing the writ petitions filed by six accused in the case, including IAS officer Atul Tuteja and his son Yash Tuteja.

"If there's no predicate offence, there are no proceeds of crime. Therefore, there can't be money laundering," Justice AS Oka told Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, who was appearing for the Directorate of Enforcement (ED).

Previously, after taking note of the petitioners' argument that the ED case was predicated on an alleged violation of the Income Tax Act, which is not a scheduled offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act(PMLA), the Court had stayed the proceedings against the petitioners.

Today, at the outset, Justice Oka remarked that “the complaint can't be entertained" since there was no predicate offence.

To this, ASG Raju replied that a fresh predicate offence was registered against the petitioners based on which a separate ECIR(Enforcement Case Information Report) would be filed by ED.

“Have you done that?”, Justice Oka asked ASG.

ASG replied that due to a stay on the subsequent predicate offence, the fresh complaint couldn't operate.

In continuation of what ASG  said, Justice Oka said that the challenge in the case relates to the present complaint pending against the accused.

“Let the complaint go. As far as this case is concerned there is no predicate offence, therefore there cannot be any proceeds of crime, and therefore the complaint needs to be quashed.”, Justice Oka told ASG.

The court then asked ASG Raju to verify whether it is factually correct that the present proceedings arise from the same complaint challenged before the Supreme Court, where different accused were involved. The petitions filed by co-accused Karishma Dhebar, Anwar Dhebar, Arun Pati Tripathi and Siddharth Singhania were also listed along with the petitions filed by Tutejas.

“Just verify it, so we will do this, if there's no predicate offence will quash the complaint, and record your (ED) statement,”, Justice Oka tells ASG.

On the request made by the ASG, the matter is next posted on April 8, 2024.

Case Title: YASH TUTEJA vs. UNION OF INDIA, W.P.(Crl.) No. 000153 - / 2023