Deputy Director, Directorate Of Enforcement vs Piramal Capital And Housing Finance Ltd.

Court
Delhi High Court

$~17
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Date of decision: 06.11.2026
# CNR No. DLHC010382742026
+ MISC. APPEAL(PMLA) 117/2026, CM APPL. 55082/2026
DEPUTY DIRECTOR, DIRECTORATE OF
ENFORCEMENT .....PETITIONER
Through: Mr. Vivek Gurnani, PC with Mr
Kanishk Maurya and Mr. Ch.
Abhinandan Patra, Advs.
versus
PIRAMAL CAPITAL AND HOUSING FINANCE LTD.
.....RESPONDENT
Through: Ms. Shweta Kapoor and Mr.
Najreena Sheith, Advs.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE NAVIN CHAWLA
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN BHARDWAJ
NAVIN CHAWLA, J. (ORAL)
CM APPL. 55083/2026 (delay in filing the appeal)
1. By way of this application, the appellant prays for condonation
of delay of 57 days in filing this appeal.
2. Having considered the grounds set out in the application, we
find sufficient reasons for condoning the delay. Accordingly, the delay
is condoned. The application is disposed of.
MISC. APPEAL(PMLA) 117/2026 & CM APPL. 55082/2026
3. This appeal has been filed by the appellant under Section 42 of
the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (hereinafter referred
to as ‘ PMLA ’), challenging the order dated 16.04.2026 passed by the
Signature Not Verified
MISC. APPEAL(PMLA) 117/2026 Page 1 of 4
Signed By:ASHOK
KUMAR RAY
Signing Date:06.11.2026
20:17

learned Appellate Tribunal under SAFEMA in appeal bearing no.
FPA-PMLA-1760/DLI/2024, by way of which, the learned Appellate
Tribunal has allowed the appeal filed by the respondent herein and has
set aside the order dated 31.07.2024 passed by the Adjudicating
Authority confirming the Attachment.
4. The Adjudicating Authority, by its order dated 31.07.2024
passed in Original Complaint (OC) No. 2216/2024, had confirmed the
Provisional Attachment Order No. 03/2024 dated 23.02.2024 passed
by the appellant inter alia on the property of the respondent.
5. By the impugned order, the learned Appellate Tribunal has set
aside the order passed by the learned Adjudicating Authority, only on
the ground that FIR No. RC2172018A0004 dated 05.05.2018 had
been quashed by this Court vide an order dated 14.10.2025 passed in
CRL. MC 7294/2025 and thereafter, the Special Leave Petition filed
against the same by the Central Bureau of Investigation had also been
dismissed by the Supreme Court vide order dated 09.03.2026.
6. The learned counsel for the appellant submits that the learned
Appellate Tribunal failed to appreciate that apart from the above FIR,
another FIR, that is, FIR No. RC 2172018A0003 dated 01.05.2018
had been registered under Section 420 read with 120-B of the Indian
Penal Code, 1860 and Section 13(2) r/w 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of
Corruption Act, 1988, and was also the basis of the passing of the
Provisional Attachment Order dated 23.02.2024. In the above FIR
dated 01.05.2018, a charge sheet already stands filed and a
Prosecution Complaint bearing Case No. ECIR/03/HIU/2018 under
Section 45 of the PMLA also stands filed by the appellant herein. He
Signature Not Verified
MISC. APPEAL(PMLA) 117/2026 Page 2 of 4
Signed By:ASHOK
KUMAR RAY
Signing Date:06.11.2026
20:17

submits that the impugned order has been passed without considering
the above FIR and the Complaint.
7. He further submits that the impugned order was also challenged
by the appellant in MISC. APPEAL(PMLA) 116/2026 titled as
Deputy Director, Directorate of Enforcement v. Shri Upendra Rai
and MISC. APPEAL(PMLA) 118/2026 titled as Deputy Director,
Directorate of Enforcement v. Shri Narendra Rai, and by a consent
order dated 25.08.2026, the impugned order has been set aside in
those appeals qua the respondents therein and the matter was
remanded back to the learned Appellate Tribunal to decide the appeals
afresh.
8. The learned counsel for the respondent, on the other hand,
submits that no fault can be found in the impugned order in as much
as the FIR for the predicate offence stands quashed by this Court by
way of the above referred order passed in CRL. MC 7294/2025.
9. We have considered the submissions made by the learned
counsels for the parties.
10. We find that the learned Appellate Tribunal has based its
impugned order only on the fact of quashing of FIR No.
RC2172018A0004, without considering the other FIR dated
01.05.2018, which was also the subject matter of the provisional
attachment order confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority.
11. The effect of quashing of the FIR No. RC2172018A0004 on the
Provisional Attachment Order, should also have been independently
considered by the learned Appellate Tribunal, as has been held by the
Supreme Court in Directorate of Enforcement v. Bhupesh Arora
Signature Not Verified
MISC. APPEAL(PMLA) 117/2026 Page 3 of 4
Signed By:ASHOK
KUMAR RAY
Signing Date:06.11.2026
20:17

(Order dated 29.09.2026 in SLP (Crl.) No. 13532/2026), wherein the
Supreme Court had observed that when an FIR of a predicate offence
has been quashed on a compromise, the same does not obliterate the
existence of the proceeds of crime.
12. Keeping in view the above, the present appeal is allowed and
the impugned order dated 16.04.2026 is set aside. The appeal, that is,
FPA-PMLA-1760/DLI/2024, is restored and remanded back to the
learned Appellate Tribunal for considering the same afresh, remaining
uninfluenced by any observations made in the impugned order. All
contentions of the parties shall remain open to be adjudicated afresh
before the learned Appellate Tribunal.
13. In our order dated 25.08.2026, referred hereinabove, we had
requested the learned Appellate Tribunal to try and dispose of the
appeals therein within a period of two months from the date of first
listing. We reiterate the same request in the present appeal as well.
14. We are informed that the other connected appeals are listed
before the learned Appellate Tribunal on 18.11.2026. In view of the
same, let the appeal bearing no. FPA-PMLA-1760/DLI/2024 be also
listed before the learned Appellate Tribunal on the same date, that is,
18.11.2026.
15. The present appeal is disposed of in the above terms.
NAVIN CHAWLA, J
ARUN BHARDWAJ, J
NOVEMBER 6, 2026/akr/ps/as
Signature Not Verified
MISC. APPEAL(PMLA) 117/2026 Page 4 of 4
Signed By:ASHOK
KUMAR RAY
Signing Date:06.11.2026
20:17