ANA MARIA PEREIRA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner Smt. Ana Maria Pereira is the mother of the detenu Nazario Sobastiao Dias who has been detained under Sub-Section (1) of Section 3 of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (for short, "the COFEPOSA Act") under the impugned order dated 5/03/1992. The petition seeks to challenge the said order dated 5/03/1992. The relevant facts may be, briefly, stated as under :-

(2.) IT appears that reliable information was received in the Office of the Enforcement Directorate, Bombay, that one Sobastiao R. Pereira, a resident of 202, Nirman Apartments, Andheri (E), Bombay, was indulging in receiving and making hawala payments on behalf of persons resident outside India without the permission of the Reserve Bank of India. In view of the said information, the premises of the said Sebastiao Pereira were searched by the officers of the Enforcement Directorate under Section 37 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 (for short, "the FERA") on 10/09/1991 and as a result of the search documents and Indian currency of Rs. 75,000/- were recovered and seized as per the details given in the Panchanama dated 10/09/1991. During the course of the said search, a person named Ramesh Kumar Jain entered the said premises and on his search Indian currency of Rs. 11,70,000/- was recovered and seized as per the Panchanama dated 10/09/1991. The statement of the said Sebastiao Pereira was recorded which disclosed that the said Pereira was introduced to one J. Rodrigues of United Kingdom by one Armando Pereira of Azossim, Ilhas, Goa, who is the Godfather of the daughter of Sebastiao Pereira. Sebastiao Pereira's statement further disclosed that for making payments in India he received Rs. 11,70,000/- from Armando Pereira from 1/02/1991 and that Sebastiao Pereira also used to receive money from Michael Fornandos, Ramesh, Madhu and other un-known persons under the instructions of J. Rodrigues of U. K.

(3.) IN the statements of the said Ramesh Kumar Jain which were recorded on 10th, 11th, 12th and 13/09/1991, it transpired that on the instructions of one Rajendra Choraria of London, some persons had given him the said money, viz. Rs. 11,70,000/- and he had gone to the residence of Sebastiao Pereira with the said amount of Rs. 11. 70 lakhs for delivering the same to Sebastiao Pereira. The statement of one Surendra Kumar Choraria, resident of Bombay, was also recorded under Section 40 of the FERA, wherein he stated that he had a brother named Rajendra Kumar Choraria who is a N. R. I. and was staying in London. Michael Fornandos whose name was disclosed in the statements of both Sebastiao Pereira and Ramesh Kumar Jain was also interrogated and in the statement recorded under Section 40 of the FERA on 10th, 11th, 12th and 13/09/1991 a note-book and some slips containing certain writings were recovered. It transpired that Michael Fornandos had received certain payments from two persons viz. one Tikur and another Mitha as per the slip marked 'a' seized from the residence of Michael Fornandos. As per the writings on page 2 of the Diary marked 'a' it was shown that he had paid Rs. 22,10,000/- to Sebastiao Pereira as per the instructions of the said J. Rodrigues of U. K. from June to August, 1991. On further inquiries being made in Goa in respect of Armando Pereira, it transpired that Armando Pereira was not available at his house but the detenu was residing at Armando Pereira's house at Azossim, Ilhas, Goa and that the detenu was indulging in making hawala payments and, as such, the detenu's residence was searched under Section 37 of the FERA on 13th September, 1991. As a result of the said search certain documents were recovered as per the details given in the panchanama dated 13/09/1991. A cupboard in the said residence of the detenu was also searched on 1/10/1991. The statement of Molton Pereira, the son of said Armando Pereira was recorded from which it transpired that the detenu was the Godfather of Newton, the younger brother of Molton and that the detenu used to go to Bombay to meet the said Sebastiao Pereira and bring to Goa the amounts of the order of Rs. 2, 3, 4 lakhs and so on and distribute it to various persons in Goa whose relations were working abroad. It further transpired that on the 11/09/1991 the detenu had left Goa for Bombay to bring the amounts from Sebastiao Pereira to be distributed in Goa. Accordingly, the detenu came back to Goa from Bombay on 13/09/1991 and brought with him Rs. 1,69,500/- which was received by the detenu through Sebastiao Pereira as per the instructions of J. Rodrigues of U. K. to be delivered to various persons in Goa whose names and addresses were received by the detenu. The statement of the detenu was recorded on 14/09/1991 under Section 40 of the FERA. It transpired that the detenu was working as a receptionist at Hotel Missel in Goa and that he was staying in the house of Armando Pereira. It further transpired from the statement of the detenu that Armando Pereira had come to Goa in December, 1990 and had told the detenu that he had a contact in U. K. viz. J. Rodrigues on 86, St. Mary Street, Southampton, U. K. which was found recorded in the handwriting of the detenu on the reverse of page 17 in the diary seized from the detenu. It further transpired that under the instructions of J. Rodrigues of U. K. , Armando used to make payments to the wives of Seamen working abroad and that Armando used to get funds from parties in Bombay to make payments in Goa.