Shivani Thakur
Published on: June 6, 2022, at 20:55 IST
Telengana High Court said that an accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 is entitled to Statutory Bail if the charge sheet is not submitted before the inquiry is completed.
Justice K. Lakshman held that:
“At the cost of repetition, this Court holds that the complaint dated 19.03.2022 was not a final complaint based on which cognizance could have been taken. A complaint/report cannot be treated as final report unless the investigation is completed.”
“In the present case, the investigation is admittedly not completed and the statutory period of sixty days expired on 21.03.2022. Therefore, in the absence of complete investigation and absence of filing a final complaint, the Petitioner is entitled for statutory bail under Section 167(2) of the CrPC.”
M/S Karvy Stock Broking Ltd. (KSBL) was the subject of a number of FIRs filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). The offences which are alleged against him, are not punishable less than ten years in prison, death, or life imprisonment.
In the absence of the completion of the investigation, the Petitioner claimed that he was entitled to Statutory Bail under Section 167(2) of the CrPC.
The Statutory Bail under Section 167(2) of the CrPC, according to the respondent, cannot be requested once the charge sheet has been submitted.
The question before the court was whether the Petitioner was entitled to statutory bail under Section 167(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
According to Justice K. Lakshman, Section 167(2) of the Cr.P.C. requires investigative authorities to conclude the investigation.
The Complaint dated 19.03.2022 was not a final Complaint, according to Justice K. Lakshman. As a result, under Section 167(2) of the CrPC, the Petitioner was entitled to statutory bail.
As a result, the Criminal Petition was granted, and the Petitioner was granted Statutory Bail under Section 167(2) of the CrPC.