Sumita Wadhera v. Joint Director, Enforcement Directorate, New Delhi and Anr

O R D E R %

14.11.2024

¶1The earlier writ petition [W.P.(C) 9397/2024] preferred by Mrs. Sumita Wadhera (the Petitioner herein) was disposed of by this court vide dated 12th August, 2024,1 with a direction to the Petitioner to furnish a Fixed Deposit Receipt2 from a nationalized bank in the name of Directorate of Enforcement,3 in lieu of the properties mentioned in paragraph 4(b) of the said order.4

¶2Pursuant to the aforenoted directions, the Petitioner submitted the FDR. Thereafter, through an email communication, a copy of which has been annexed with the petition [AnnexureP-5], ED informed the concerned

1 modified vide order dated 9th September, 2024 2 "FDR" 3 "ED" This is a digitally signed order. bank that the interest accrued on the FDR should remain with the FDR and not be disbursed to the depositor.

¶3In the above circumstances, the Petitioner has filed the instant petitions seeking a direction to Respondents to release the interest accrued in the subject FDRs in their favour and also issue a no objection for release of the properties mentioned in paragraph. no 4(b) of the order dated 12th August, 2024,5 to the relevant authorities.

¶4However, after making some submissions, Mr. Naveen Malhotra, counsel for Petitioner, on instructions, states that the Petitioner no longer wishes to press payment of interest compounded on the FDR. It is thus clarified that the FDR already submitted in favour of ED shall be kept in auto-renewal mode. The interest accrued on the said FD, shall be credited into the FD accounts itself. The FDR will be kept alive and renewed periodically till the conclusion of the trial under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 20026 in terms of Section 8(6) of the PMLA Act. Upon a confirmation from the concerned bank of the aforenoted terms, the ED shall release the subject properties and send an intimation to the Petitioner.

¶5In light of the above, the present petition is disposed of along with pending application(s).

SANJEEV NARULA, J NOVEMBER 14, 2024/as

4 as modified vide order dated 9th September, 2024. 5 as modified vide order dated 9th September, 2024. 6 "PMLA" This is a digitally signed order.

* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + W.P.(C) 15800/2024 & CM APPL. 66330/2024 SUMITA WADHERA .....Petitioner Through: Mr. Naveen Malhotra and Mr. Ritwik Malhotra, Advocates. versus JOINT DIRECTOR, ENFORCEMENT DIRECTORATE, NEW DELHI AND ANR. .....Respondents Through: Mr. Manish Jain, Spl. Counsel with Ms. Snehal Sharda, Ms. Gulnaz Khan and Mr. Sougata Ganguly, Advocates for ED. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJEEV NARULA