W.P.(CRL)/2756/2023 of KISSANUDEY SAMITI OM KAR Vs THE UNION OF INDIA & ORS.

*IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI+W.P.(CRL) 2756/2023

KISSANUDEY SAMITI OM KAR.....Petitioner

Through:Mr. Shiv Charan Garg, Ms. JahanviGarg, Advocates

versus

THE UNION OF INDIA & ORS......RespondentsThrough:Mr. Vikrant N Goyal, Mr. ArunKumar Yadav, Mr. Kunal Dixit, Mr.Prince Balyan, Advocates for UOIMr. Zoheb Hossain, Special CounselwithMr.VivekGurnani,PanelCounsel and Mr. Kartik Sabharwal,Advocate for EDMr. Arshdeep Singh Khurana, Mr.Himanshu Kasturi, Advocates for R-3Ms. Vinny, Mr. Rishabh, Advocatesfor R-5

CORAM:HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJEEV NARULA

O R R25.08.2025

1.The present writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution ofIndia read with Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita,2023 (corresponding to Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,1973) seeks the following reliefs:

“A. Issue appropriate writs, direction

B. Direction may be issued to the respondent's no. 1 and 2 to considerthe representation dated 31.07.2022 of the petitioner and gaveoutcome of the representation to the petition within 8 Weeks of thereceipt of the petition.

C. Direction may be issued to Respondent No. 2 to file status report

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about the investigation conducted in this matter so far.

D. Any other or further relief which this Hon'ble Court may be deemfit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case may bepassed in favour of the petitioner.”

2.Respondents have objected to the maintainability of the petition,contending that the Petitioner has failed to establish locus standi and that thepresent proceedings cannot be treated as public interest litigation in theabsence of compliance with the Delhi High Court Rules. While suchobjections are not without substance, it must be noted that this Court byorder dated 22[nd]September, 2023, called for status report from theEnforcement Directorate in order to satisfy itself about the steps beingundertaken in the matter.

3.Incompliancewiththeaforenotedorder,theDirectorateofEnforcement (Respondent No. 2), have filed status report delineatingstatus of the investigations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act,2002 as follows:

“A.STATUSWITHBRIEFFACTSOFINVESTIGATIONCONDUCTED UNDER PMLA, 2002

5.That the present matter pertains to four cases registered underthe Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (hereinafter referredto as “the PMLA, 2002” or “PMLA”, initiated by the Directorate ofEnforcement on the basis of scheduled offences committed under theprovisions of Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981(hereinafter referred to as “Air Act”) and the Water (Prevention andControl of Pollution) Act, 1974 (hereinafter referred to as “WaterAct”). These scheduled offences are subject matter of CriminalComplaintsfiledbyHaryanaStatePollutionControlBoard(hereinafter referred to as “HSPCB”), Government of Haryanabefore the Ld. Special Environmental Court at Kurukshetra againstfour companies engaged in development of their real estate projects atKundli, Sonipat in respective Sections of Water Act and Air Act.

6.That HSPCB filed Criminal Complaint No. 31/2020 dated 17[th]August, 2020 against- M/s Parker Estate Developers Pvt. Ltd.(Accused No.1) and its directors- Mr. Manish Garg (Director), Mr.

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Ravinder Mohan Garg (Director) and Mr. Manohar Lal (Director)(Accused No. 2 to 4) in the Court of Ld. Special Environment Judge,Kurukshetra.

7.That similarly, HSPCB Sonipat filed Criminal ComplaintNo.26/2020 dated 17.08.2020 against M/s Pardesi Developers Pvt.Ltd. (Accused No. 1) and three of its Key Managerial PersonsVirender Kumar Pardesi (Director), Satish Kumar Luthra (Director)and Reena Dwivedi (Company Secretary) (Accused No.2 to 4) in theLd. Special Environment Court, Kurukshetra.

8.That likewise, HSPCB Sonipat also filed Criminal ComplaintNo.30/2020dated17[th]August,2020againstM/sNarangConstruction and Financiers Pvt. Ltd. (Accused No.1) and Mr. RajpalNarang, Mrs. Asha Narang, Mrs. Sumita Narang, Mr. Satish Narang(AccusedNo.2to5) inthe Ld.Special EnvironmentCourt,Kurukshetra.

9.That besides above, HSPCB Sonipat filed three CriminalComplaints bearing nos. CRM-M/2020/27, CRM-M/2020/28 & CRM-M/2020/29 dated 17[th]August, 2020 in the Ld. Special EnvironmentCourt, Kurukshetra against M/s TDI Infrastructure Ltd. (AccusedNo.1) and its Directors under Section 43, 44, 47 of the Water(Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 (hereinafter referred toas “Water Act”) for violation of Section 24 and 25 of the Water Actand under Section 37 and 40 of the Air (Prevention & Control ofPollution) Act, 1981 (hereinafter referred as “Air Act”) for violationof Section 21 of the Air Act, for its three residential townships namely“Kingsburry Apartments’, “My Floor 2” and “Tuscan City” locatedat Kundli, Sonipat, Haryana.

10.That the above Criminal Complaints of HSPCB inter aliainvoked violation of Section 24 of Water Act, 1974, punishable U/s 43of the said Act, and violation of Section 21 of Air Act, 1981,punishable Us 37 of the said Act. Since offence under Section 43 of theWater Act under Section 37 of Air Act (till 13[th]August, 2024) beingscheduled offence under PMLA, Respondent Directorate initiatedPMLA investigations of four different cases based on the aforesaidCriminal Complaints filed by HSPCB, against the following fourcompanies, their directors/promoters and others, for the commissionof offence of money-laundering, as defined U/s 3 of the PMLA, 2002:

(i)M/s. TDI Infrastructure Ltd. vide ECIR/GNZO/14/2023 dated31[st]March, 2023

(ii)M/s.ParkerEstateDevelopmentPvt.Ltd.videECIR/GNZO/13/2023 dated 31[st]March, 2023

(iii)M/s. Pardesi Developers Pvt. Ltd. vide ECIR/GNZO/15/2023dated 31[st]March, 2023

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(iv)M/s.NarangConstruction&FinanciersPvt.Ltd,videECIR/GNZO/12/2023 dated 31[st]March, 2023.

11.In all the above four PMLA cases, the Directorate has beenconducting investigation into the proceeds of crime, defined U/s2(1)(u) of the PMLA, 2002, generated out of aforesaid allegedviolations of Air Act, 1981 and Water Act, 1974, which are mentionedin the schedule appended to the PMLA and known as predicateoffences, and activities & processes connected to said proceeds ofcrime while at the same time accused persons involved in the offenceof money-laundering, as defined U/s 3 of PMLA, punishable U/s 4 ofPMLA.

22.Thus, the outcome of investigation conducted by RespondentDirectorate is as follows-

ECIR/GNZO/14/2023; M/s TDI INFRASTRUCTURE LTD.

(i)ProvisionalAttachmentOrder(PAO)No.11/2025(28.03.2025): Attachment of 8 immovable properties in TDI Mallvalued at 85.61 Crore under Section 5(1) PMLA.

• Original Complaint No. 205 filed U/s 5(5) PMILA before Ld.Adjudicating Authority (PMLA), New Delhi.

• Final hearing completed (20.08.2025), but issuance of final orderunder Section 8 PMLA stayed by Hon'ble Punjab & Haryana HighCourt in CWP No. 23504/2025.

(ii)Prosecution Complaint (21.05.2025):• Filed before Special Court (PMLA), Panchkula as COMA/13/2025under Sections 44 & 45(1) PMLA.

• Accused: The company and its directors/promoters.

•Presentstage:Matterfixedforargumentsoncognizance(29.08.2025).

• Meanwhile, accused have challenged the notice for hearing ontaking cognizance of the Ld. Special Court before Hon'ble Punjab &Haryana High Court in CRM-M-41195/2025, which is listed on27.08.2025.

M/s NARANG CONSTRUCTION & FINANCIERS PVT. LTD.

• Summons issued to directors of companies and HSPCB officials

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(Assistant Environmental Engineers) & other departments U/s 50 ofPMLA.

Statements recorded under Section 50 of PMLA.

• Relevant documents/records collected and scrutinized.”

4.From the status report, it is evident that the Directorate ofEnforcement has already registered four ECIRs against different companies,their directors, and associated persons, and is actively investigating theoffence of money-laundering under Sections 3 and 4 of the PMLA. TheDirectorate has recorded statements, collected documents, issued summons,and in one case, even proceeded to file prosecution complaint and pass aprovisional attachment order, which is currently pending adjudication beforethe competent authorities and courts.

5.In light of the above, since it is apparent that the competent statutoryauthority has already initiated and is pursuing investigation under thePrevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, no further intervention fromthis Court is warranted or called for at this stage.

6.Accordingly, the present petition is disposed of.

7.The Directorate of Enforcement is requested to carry out theinvestigation as expeditiously as possible.

AUGUST 25, 2025/ab

SANJEEV NARULA, J

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