V.P. NANDAKUMAR Vs. DEPUTY DIRECTOR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners herein have been arrayed as accused Nos.1 and 2 in the Enforcement Case Information Report ('ECIR' for the sake of brevity) registered by the Enforcement Directorate ('ED' for the sake of brevity) as ECIR/36/KCZO/2022 dtd. 6/9/2022. They have approached this Court seeking to quash the ECIR and all further proceedings pursuant thereto.

(2.) The petitioner asserts that the aforementioned ECIR arose following the registration of Crime No.376/2022 at the Valappad Police Station, which pertains to an alleged offence under Sec. 420 of the IPC. It was consequent to the registration of the FIR at the instance of a certain P.K. Sagar that ECIR/36/KCZO/2022 dtd. 6/9/2022 was drawn up, invoking the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA, 2002).

(3.) The petitioners contend that immediately after the registration of the FIR, both the petitioners and the complainant arrived at an amicable settlement and decided to resolve the issues. The petitioners approached this Court and instituted Crl.M.C.No. 4436/2022, seeking to quash all further proceedings. This Court, after getting the response from the complainant and the State, wielding its authority under Sec. 482 of the Cr.P.C., quashed all further proceedings in Crime No. 376/2022 at the Valappad Police Station.