DRI proceedings against Hero Group chairman Pawan Munjal are halted by the Delhi High Court

 DRI proceedings against Hero Group chairman Pawan Munjal are halted by the Delhi High Court

It stated that SEMPL had also taken out large sums of foreign currency and travel cards in the names of other workers who had never even been overseas.

In accordance with the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the department of enforcement had also filed a complaint.

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) filed a foreign currency case against Hero Motocorp Chairman Pawan Kant Munjal, but the Delhi High Court has halted the case. The high court observed in an interim order dated November 3 that the petitioner had successfully made a case for interim protection and that Munjal had been cleared on the same set of facts by the Customs, Excise along with Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), which had not been disclosed to the trial court.

"Considering the contentions collected by the senior counsel that appear to represent the petitioner, especially the assertion that the summoning order was officially passed without giving any reasons for the same, the court in question is of the opinion the fact that prima facie, the matter necessitate consideration," Justice Saurabh Banerjee stated. The petitioner's case before the ACMM qua (with regard to) the ruling made on July 1, 2023 by an extra chief metropolitan magistrate here was delayed by the high court until the next hearing date of February 21, 2024.

The DRI had last year presented a prosecution complaint in opposition to P K Munjal, a third-party service provider company called SEMPL, and some different people for allegedly "carrying, making an effort to export and illicit export of banned substances, that is, foreign currency." On a plea by Munjal to revoke the trial court's July ruling and the case that is still pending before ACMM, the high court issued an interim order on November 3.

The high court gave DRI notice of the main petition and three weeks to respond. In the lawsuit, which claimed that the offenses were committed under the Customs Act, senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, speaking on behalf of the petitioner, requested a stay of the trial court's summons order, arguing that it was issued mechanically and without consideration for any justification. The petitioner was found not guilty on the same set of facts that are included in the current complaint, which is a verbatim replication of the July 2019 show-cause notice, the counsel said. The trial court issued the order without taking into account the facts that the DRI withheld from the court on March 28, 2022.

The July 17, 2019 show-cause letter and the October 6, 2022 lawsuit are similar, according to the high court's review of the records, and the papers that were used are essentially the same. "It is also not argued that the order dated March 28, 2022 passed by the CESTAT was not disclosed while the ACMM- 01, Patiala House Courts, New Delhi," said the statement. As it was not a party to the action before the CESTAT, the DRI counsel argued that there was no need to be aware of or hide any information about the March order from last year, which was not disclosed.

In accordance with the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Department of Enforcement had also filed a complaint. The primary source of the case is the charge sheet that the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC)'s investigative arm, the DRI, presented before a Delhi court under section 135 of the Customs Act (evasion of tax or restrictions). During the period of 2014-2015 to 2018-2019, Salt Experience and Management Pvt Ltd (SEMPL) was accused by the ED of "illegally exporting foreign currency comparable to about Rs 54 crore to a number of countries, which was ultimately used for the private expenses of P K Munjal."

It claimed that SEMPL issued foreign exchange exceeding the annual allowable limit of USD 2,50,000 in several financial years to officials and employees including Hemant Dahiya, Mudit Aggarwal, Amit Makker, Gautam Kumar, Vikram Bajaj, and Ketan Kakkar, totaling approximately Rs 14 crore. It stated that SEMPL had also taken out large sums of foreign currency and travel cards in the names of other workers who had never even been overseas.