Mumbai: Nation the victim of crime under PMLA, says court

A special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has said that in its opinion, the nation is the victim of crime under PMLA, while rejecting the application of an important witness of the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case for withdrawal of a Look out Circular (LOC) issued against him.

The ED’s witness Philip Anandraj had sought in his application that the court direct the agency to immediately cancel the LOC so that he could travel abroad, as his kin stay in Singapore. He told the court that in 2019, he had got a favourable order from the court for the ED to return his passport, but by oversight the LOC was not cancelled by the court.

The ED had opposed his plea and told the court Anandraj had met the main accused in Singapore and was part of a meeting held at the Swiss bank with the main accused, his wife and others. It said that a procedure is underway as part of the probe to collect documents related to the offence from Singapore through authorities there. The court had already issued a request for the documents to the Singapore authorities by an order earlier, it pointed out. It said if the LOC is withdrawn, it could interfere in the proceedings.

Special Judge MG Deshpande said in his order that Anandraj had not approached the ED with his plea to be permitted to travel abroad and that if he gets a no-objection from the agency, his present plea could be considered. “In my opinion, the nation is a victim of crime under the PML Act. Therefore, safeguards taken by ED by issuing LOC cannot be interfered with,” the order stated. It apprehended that such a direction could amount to interference in the process of collection of documents for the probe. There is every chance, it said, that Anandraj is likely to interfere in the proceedings.