RINTU TAREI Vs. STATE OF ODISHA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners are in custody since 8/6/2023 having been remanded in Criminal PML Case No. 6 of 2023 of the Court of learned Sessions Judge, Khordha at Bhubaneswar for the alleged commission of offence under Sec. 3 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (for short, "the Act") punishable under Sec. 4 of the said Act.

(2.) The above case has arisen out of a complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate (E.D.) under Sec. 44 of the PML Act. It is alleged in the complaint that both the petitioners are accused of committing offences under Ss. 21(c) and 29 of the N.D.P.S. Act in Sahadevkhunta P.S. Case No.352 dtd. 27/10/2022. Said offences are predicate/schedule offences as per the PML Act. It is alleged that the petitioners and five other persons were found to be in possession of 10 kgs 394 grams of contraband brown sugar on their personal search, which is worth Rs.10.39 crores. Charge sheet has been submitted on 21/4/2023 in the said case under Ss. 21(c)/29 of N.D.P.S Act read with Sec. 120(B) of IPC.

(3.) All these offences, as already stated, being scheduled offences as per the PML Act, investigation of the case under Ss. 22/2(1)(n)(a) of PML Act was initiated after recording brief facts of the schedule offences in ECIR dtd. 14/11/2022 against the accused persons for alleged commission of the offence under Sec. 3 of the PML Act punishable under Sec. 4 of the said Act. On such facts, initially, an application was filed under Sec. 50 of the PML Act with prayer for production of the accused persons before the Special Court for their custodial interrogation by E.D. Since both of them were in custody in connection with the aforementioned P.S. Case. Learned Sessions Judge, by order dtd. 3/5/2023 granted such prayer of the E.D. by requesting the learned District and Sessions Judge, Balasore, under whose custody the accused persons then were, to spare them for being produced before his Court. Accordingly, both the accused persons were produced before the learned Sessions Judge, Khordha on 8/6/2023 and on the same day, the E.D. was directed to take them into remand for a period of four days, i.e. from 9/6/2023 to 12/6/2023. On 12/6/2023, on application being filed by the E.D., the period of remand was extended till 14/6/2023. On 14/6/2023, the accused persons were remanded to jail custody.