Delhi High Court: The petitions were filed challenging their arrests in FIR dated 30-05-2024 registered under sections 120-B, 420, 468, 467, 471, 201 of Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) and ECIR dated 31-05-2024 registered by respondents 2 and 3 (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA); as well as their consequent remand to judicial custody vide various orders as detailed in their respective petitions. Anup Jairam Bhambhani, J., quashed the FIR’s and granted release from custody to the petitioner
The present writ petitions arose from a search and seizure operation conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on 28-05-2024 under Section 37 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) at the premises of the petitioners. During the operation, the ED recorded the petitioners’ statements, wherein they allegedly admitted to executing illegal hawala transactions amounting to approximately ₹3,500 crore. These transactions were carried out by fabricating documents to send outward remittances to their overseas companies located in Hong Kong and Canada, under the guise of importing software from a firm named Mozire Technologies Ltd. through their own company, Birfa IT Services Pvt. Ltd.
Following the raid, the ED froze certain bank accounts and provisionally attached vehicles linked to the petitioners. A police complaint was filed on 30-05-2024 with the Crime Branch, leading to FIR and their subsequent arrest. Thereafter, treating the FIR offences as predicate offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the ED registered an ECIR and arrested the petitioners again under the PMLA in June and July 2024 respectively. Alleging non-cooperation during custodial interrogation, the ED sought and secured their remand, and both petitioners remain in judicial custody. These events led to the filing of the present petitions before the Court.
The question under consideration was whether the enactment of FEMA grants a person immunity from prosecution for offences which arise under the IPC from the underlying acts or omissions that led to infraction of the provisions of FEMA.
The Court noted that in the present case, neither do the two statutes viz., FEMA and IPC, occupy or operate in the same field; nor do they contain any inconsistent or repugnant or irreconcilable provisions. FEMA replaced FERA with the objective of facilitating external trade and payments and for promoting the orderly development and maintenance of the foreign exchange market in India; while IPC is the codified substantive penal law of the country, which deals with punishing conventional crimes. The Court opined that the civil wrongs alleged to have been committed by the petitioners relating to foreign exchange transactions under FEMA cannot be viewed as having been committed in one fell swoop with all preceding actions and omissions that the petitioners committed in preparation of the civil wrongs. As per the allegations, the foreign exchange transactions that are subject matter of investigation by the ED under the provisions of the FEMA were preceded by several actions and omissions, such as forging of notarial stamps and fabrication of fake invoices, which amount to criminal offences under the IPC; and these offences were committed even before the petitioners committed the civil wrongs under FEMA that they have been accused of.
The Court observed that in view of the position of law as applied to the provisions of FEMA vis-à-vis the provisions of IPC, there is no basis to hold that the enactment of FEMA grants to a person immunity for offences under the IPC, since FEMA does not repeal the IPC, either expressly or by implication. Moreover, FEMA and IPC address different and distinct infractions of the law addressing infractions relating to foreign exchange transactions and the IPC dealing with conventional crimes. The Court stated that the offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and related offences of which the petitioners are accused under the IPC, do not get obliterated or subsumed or cease to be penal offences, merely because they were the underlying actions for the infractions of foreign exchange regulations. Therefore, the penal offences were complete in themselves before the infraction of the provisions of FEMA took place.
Thus, the petitioners’ submission that they cannot be prosecuted for offences under the IPC cannot be accepted. The enactment of FEMA does not grant to a person immunity from prosecution for offences under the IPC even if the offences alleged arise from the same underlying actions or omissions that led to infractions of FEMA
The Court further observed that the registration of the subject FIR by the Delhi Police, based on the complaint filed by the ED, arising from the search and seizure operation conducted by the (latter) agency, is not invalid or illegal merely because the FIR is based on the ED’s complaint. However, the Court has not examined the legal tenability of the subject FIR on the touchstone of the grounds for quashing enunciated by the Supreme Court in n State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal, 1992 Supp (1) SCC 335. The petitioners arrest by the ED in the subject ECIR for violations of the provisions of PMLA is valid and legal and in compliance of the requirements of the law, including the requirements of the Supreme Court verdict in Prabir Purkayastha v. State, 2024 SCC OnLine SC 934 and section 19 of the PMLA; however,he petitioners arrest by the Delhi Police in the subject FIR is not valid, since those are in violation of the mandate of the Supreme Court in Prabir Purkayastha (supra).
Thus, the petitioners arrest in the subject FIR is therefore quashed and the petitioners are liable to be released from custody in the subject FIR upon furnishing personal bond in the sum of Rs. 05 lacs each with 02 sureties in the like amount from family members to the satisfaction of the learned Trial Court.
[Manideep Mago v. UOI, W.P.(CRL) 2241/2024, decided on 15-05-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
Mr. Vikram Chaudhri, Senior Advocate with Mr. Raktim Gogoi, Mr. Arveen Sekhon, Mr. Rishi Sehgal, Mr. Shivam Pal Sharma, Mr. Anuj Kr. And Mr. Ishaan Sahai, Advocates for petitioner
Mr. Amol Sinha, ASC (Criminal) for the State with Mr. Kshitiz Garg, Mr. Ashvini Kumar and Mr. Nitish Dhawan, Advocates. Insp. Pawan Kumar, AGS Crime Branch. Dr. B. Ramaswamy, CGSC for Union of India. Mr. Zoheb Hossain, Special Counsel with Mr. Vivek Gurnani, Panel Counsel, Mr. Pranjal Tripathi and Mr. Kartik Sabharwal, Advocates for ED