PMLA case against the son of an IAS official in Chhattisgarh overturned

The money laundering case against Anil Tuteja, a retired IAS official, and his son Yash Tuteja in the purported Rs 2,000 crore liquor scam in Chhattisgarh was overturned by the Supreme Court on Monday, stating that there were no profits of crime.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) case was quashed by a two-judge bench consisting of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan. The bench noted that since there was no ex-facie scheduled offense (main offense) against the accused, no offense had been made out by the probe agency in accordance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Following the consideration of a number of writ petitions submitted by six defendants, including IAS official Tuteja, his son, and a few other staff members, it issued the ruling. The ED was severely weakened by the court judgment on Monday as they were unable to get any evidence against the defendants.

There cannot be any proceeds of crime as that term is defined under PMLA clause 2(u) if there is no scheduled offense. The top court’s bench said in its ruling that “the offence under PMLA is not made out” if there are no proceeds of crime.

The court also said unequivocally that it was dismissing the case because the ED’s complaint and prosecution were based on an IT Act offense, which is not a PMLA scheduled offense. The SC said in its ruling that “there cannot be proceeds of crime, as there is no predicate offence.”

The investigating agency said in their complaint that A Tiwari was the architect of the multi-crore liquor fraud. About fifty persons have been identified by the ED, including Yash Tuteja, the son of IAS officer Anil Tuteja, Congress politician Anwar Dehbar, retired IAS officer Vivek Dhandh, and former excise minister Kawasi Lakhma.

In its complaint, the Enforcement Department (ED) has accused Anwar Dhebar, the brother of Congress leader and Raipur Mayor Aijaz Dhebar, of money laundering. Other accused parties include Arunpati Tripathi, the managing director of the Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (CSMCL), liquor businessman Trilok Singh Dhillon, hotelier Nitesh Purohit, and Arvind Singh.

The investigation agency argued that in light of the 2022 ruling by the Supreme Court upholding the ED’s authority to search, seize, and make arrests, the accused individuals’ appeals for the case to be quashed could not be sustained. ED may call persons in under Section 50.

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