A.J.DESAI,J. - (1.) By way of the present application under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 read with Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (hereinafter referred to as 'PML Act'), the applicant herein has prayed to release him on regular bail during the pendency of the trial in connection with a complaint being Complaint No. 2 of 2016 pending before the Special Court constituted under the provisions of PML Act which arises out of Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR)/01/AZO/2012 for the offences punishable under Sections 3 and 4 of the PML Act alleging that the applicant has committed parity of scheduled offences i.e. under Sections 467, 471 read with Section 120B of Indian Penal Code as well as for the offences punishable under Sections 7 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
(2.) The case put forward by the prosecution is as under :- 2.1 That the applicant, an IAS Officer (now Retired), when was working as Collector at Bhuj of Dist. Kutch, taking undue advantage of his position as District Collector and Chairman of District Land Pricing Committee (DLPC), granted certain Government land by manipulative acts in gross violation of the norms/guidelines and instructions of State Government to one group of Company, namely, M/s. Welspun India Limited. In the said group of Companies, the wife of the present applicant, namely, Smt. Shyamal P. Sharma was made partner to the extent of 30% in one of the Companies, namely, M/s. Value Packaging Company which was supplying Cardboards to M/s. Welspun. By using his position as Collector, and making his wife partner in such Company, got Crores of rupees transferred into the account of his wife, son or daughter who are in USA, has committed offences punishable under Section 3 of the PML Act. For granting such land and using his position as a Collector and getting profits in which his wife was made 30% partner, several offences were registered against the applicant. One offence was registered with regard to the said transaction being I.C.R. No. 1 of 2010 with CID Crime, Rajkot and another being I C.R. No. 9 of 2010 with CID Crime of Rajkot for the offences punishable under the provisions of Indian Penal Code. Similar type of offences were registered in the year 2011, 2012 and 2014. It is pertinent to note at this stage that the applicant has been enlarged on regular bail in all the other cases except the present one by either the learned Trial Court, this Court or Hon'ble the Supreme Court. 2.2 An inquiry was initiated by the Directorate of Enforcement i.e. respondent No. 1 in the year 2012 to find out whether any offence has been committed under the provisions of PML Act. By an order dated 12-3-2012, the Deputy Director as well as Joint Director of the respondents took up the case for investigation. On completion of inquiry, a complaint under Section 45 of the PML Act being PMLA Complaint Case No. 2 of 2016 was submitted before the learned Sessions Judge and Designated Judge (PMLA) at Ahmedabad (Rural). 2.3 The applicant was arrested in other offences subsequent to the aforesaid order dated 12-3-2012. However, when the applicant apprehended that he is likely to be arrested with regard to an inquiry of the year 2012, he filed an application under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 for releasing him on bail in case of his arrest, before the learned Designated Court, which was rejected by the learned Designated Court on 25-2-2015. Thereafter, the applicant accused preferred an application under Section 438 being Criminal Misc. Application No. 4415 of 2015 before this Court. The said application was dismissed by coordinate Bench on 13-4-2015. The applicant approached Hon'ble the Supreme Court by way of filing Special Leave to Appeal (Criminal) No. 3351 of 2015. Initially, the Hon'ble Supreme Court granted interim protection and asked the applicant to appear before the Investigating Officer and furnish a personal bond of Rs. 10 Lacs. Ultimately, the said Special Leave Petition was rejected by the Hon'ble Supreme Court on 29-7-2016 and interim relief granted in favour of the applicant came to be vacated and, therefore, the applicant came to be arrested in connection with the present offence on 31-7-2016. The respondent filed a complaint before the Designated Special Court under PML Act on 27-9-2016. Summons was issued to the applicant and hearing was fixed on 29-9-2016. All the papers were supplied to the applicant on 29-9-2016 before the concerned Court. 2.4 Thereafter, the applicant filed an application under Section 439 being Criminal Misc. Application No. 1991 of 2016 before the Designated Court and prayed to release him on bail during the pendency of the trial on several grounds. The said application came to be dismissed vide order dated 15-11-2016 bey the learned Sessions Judge and Designated Judge (PMLA) at Ahmedabad (Rural). Hence, this application.
(3.) Pursuant to the notice issued by this Court, the respondent No. 1 has appeared through Mr. Devang Vyas, learned Assistant Solicitor General of India and filed an affidavit dated 9-1-2017 and opposed grant of any relief. Additional affidavit has been filed on behalf of the applicant on 10-1-2017.;