The Bombay High Court has set aside the Enforcement Directorate’s attachment of two land parcels in Pune and Nagpur valued at a combined Rs 30.17 crore, granting relief to Pune-based developer Avinash Bhosale in the Yes Bank-DHFL money laundering case.
The properties, attached by the ED in 2022, include a 6,143-square-metre land parcel in Pune held by Samit Realty and valued at Rs 14.65 crore, and a 20,200-square-foot parcel in Nagpur held in the name of Bhosale’s wife, Gauri Bhosale, and valued at Rs 15.52 crore.
Bhosale had challenged an April 1 order of the Appellate Tribunal under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. While the tribunal had partly set aside the ED’s provisional attachments, it had declined to interfere with the attachment of the two properties. Senior advocate Aabad Ponda appeared for Bhosale before the High Court.
The High Court found “no basis” for continuing the attachment of the two land parcels. The bench also questioned the ED’s treatment of payments made by Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited to Bhosale under consultancy agreements before a loan was disbursed on April 12, 2018.
“We are unable to comprehend, nor has the Special Counsel for the ED been able to explain, how official bank transaction(s) between a bank and a corporate entity, carried out in the usual course of business, could be construed as proceeds of crime and thereby constitute the offence of money laundering,” the bench observed.
The court described the ED’s conclusion as “entirely baseless” and held that the payments made under the consultancy agreements could not be linked to alleged proceeds of crime. In relation to transactions involving ABIL, the court said each transaction was independent and involved an independent corporate entity. It found no illegality in the transactions and no nexus between them.
The ED had attached several assets linked to Bhosale and entities associated with his ABIL group in August 2022. Those assets included a duplex flat in Mumbai valued at Rs 102.8 crore, two Pune land parcels valued at Rs 14.65 crore and Rs 29.24 crore, and two Nagpur land parcels valued at Rs 15.52 crore and Rs 1.45 crore.
According to the central agency, Bhosale and entities including Nibodh Realty LLP and ABIL Dairy had received alleged proceeds of crime totalling Rs 164.64 crore. The latest ruling concerns the continued attachment of the two land parcels in Pune and Nagpur and sets aside the tribunal’s decision on those properties.
