Notice to Enforcement Directorate on Reddy’s appeal to quash FIR
Mining baron J Sekhar Reddy from whose possession Rs 34 Crore in new denomination notes of Rs 2,000 and gold worth several crores had been seized in December last year, has moved the HC to quash the criminal proceedings pending against him before the Principal Sessions Judge here.
By : migrator
Update: 2017-11-10 21:56 GMT
Chennai
Justice M S Ramesh before whom the plea came on Friday ordered notice to the ED returnable in two weeks. ED had booked a case against him for offences under various sections of the PMLA, in March last.
Sekhar Reddy in his plea has submitted that though no offence is made out, the ED, without following any due procedure of law and relying on the investigations done by the other agencies, had filed the case on the file of the Principal Sessions Court under the PML Act.
He contended that the entire basis of the complaint is the FIR registered by the CBI based on information by the Income Tax Department.
The CBI is yet to either identify the involvement of the alleged bank officials or prima facie make out an offence or file a charge sheet for the allegations of conversion of the old currency notes into new denomination notes.
The ED has reproduced almost verbatim the contents of CBI’s FIR in the complaint without any independent confirmation or disclosing reasons to believe based on materials on record that the petitioner has committed an offence under the PMLA.
Sekhar Reddy also noted in his plea that he had not indulged in conversion of old currency notes into new currency notes and even otherwise it is not an offence declared under any law.
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