The Delhi High Court has stayed the proceedings initiated against Hero Motocorp Chairman Pawan Kant Munjal by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on the grounds that the summoning order passed by the trial court did not give any reasons.
The single-judge Bench of Saurabh Banerjee observed that the summoning order by the Court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) at the Patiala House Courts was passed without giving any reasons.
It further noted that the fact that Munjal was exonerated by the Customs Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) was not disclosed to the trial court.
The High Court observed that the petitioner had made out a case for grant of interim protection and stayed the July 1, 2023 order passed by the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate – 01, Patiala House Courts.
It directed to stay all proceedings against the petitioner till the next date of hearing.
As per media reports, DRI had filed a prosecution complaint last year against Munjal, one third party service provider company named SEMPL and three individuals – Hemant Dahiya, Amit Bali and K.R. Raman, along with others, alleging that they were involved in ‘illegal’ exporting of foreign currency.
The accused were booked under Sections 135(1)(a), 135(1)(b) and 135(1)(c) read with 135(1)(i)(A) of the Customs Act, 1962.
Based on the DRI’s case, the Enforcement Directorate also booked Munjal and others under various provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The counsel representing Munjal apprised the High Court that the trial court passed the summoning order in a mechanical manner without appreciating the fact that DRI concealed the CESTAT verdict, whereby Munjal was exonerated. It added that same set of facts formed the part of the present complaint.
Senior Standing Counsel Satish Aggarwala, appearing for DRI, apprised the High Court that it was not a party to the proceedings before the CESTAT and, therefore, there was no occasion for it to be aware of the same.
However, the High Court held that the matter required consideration and passed an interim order staying the proceedings.
Munjal was represented by Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi, Sandeep Sethi and Dayan Krishnan, along with Advocates Rishi Aggarwal, Parminder Singh, Abhay Agnihotri, Vikram Choudhary, Ankit and S Seth.
Advocate Gagan Vaswant also appeared for DRI.