GULAB PUNWANI Vs. ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Under assail in the present Writ Petition is the order passed by the Directorate of Enforcement Government of India under Sec. 17(1A) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (herein after referred as PMLA). I. BRIEF FACTS OF THE CASE:

(2.) Central Authority of India (MHA), Government of India, received a Letter of Request (LoR) dtd. 12/11/2018 from the Central Authority of Brazil (Office of the Prosecutor General of the State of Rio de Janeiro, through Federal Prosecutors) addressed to the Central Authority of India, seeking Legal Assistance in a criminal matter. The stated offences included that of breach of bank secrecy and the collection of financial information of accounts, which were used for money laundering in benefit of a transnational criminal organization, in addition to the freezing of corresponding assets and later repatriation, aiming at future confiscation of objects, products and instruments of crime related to corruption and money laundering, as well as the assurance of award of damages caused.

(3.) The said LoR was sent by the Central Authority of Brazil in pursuance of United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), adopted by the UN General Assembly on 31/10/2003, in force from 14/12/2005, where both India and Brazil are parties.