Delhi High Court - Orders
Sh. Anoop Kumar Wadhera & Anr vs Deputy Director, Directorate Of ... on 30 March, 2022
Author: Yashwant Varma
Bench: Yashwant Varma
$~55
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P.(C) 5286/2022 & CM APPLs. 15765/2022, 15766/2022
SH. ANOOP KUMAR WADHERA & ANR. ..... Petitioners
Through: Mr. Shri Singh, Adv.
versus
DEPUTY DIRECTOR, DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT
..... Respondent
Through: Mr.Amit Mahajan, CGSC with
Mr.Imon Bhattacharya, Adv.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE YASHWANT VARMA
ORDER
% 30.03.2022
1. Learned counsel for parties are ad idem that the issues raised in this petition would be governed by the order passed in W.P.(C) 4745/2022. Dealing with an identical situation where a petitioner was facing eviction from a property attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and was unable to access the remedy of appeal since the appellate forum had not been constituted, the Court in the aforesaid writ petition passed the following order:-
" Accordingly and bearing in mind the directions which were framed by the Division Bench noted above, this writ petition shall stand disposed of in the following terms.
Subject to the petitioner filing an appeal before the Tribunal constituted under the Act within a period of three weeks from today, no coercive action including that of eviction shall be taken against the petitioners pursuant to the impugned order of 28 February 2022.
The petitioners shall maintain status quo insofar as possession of the attached property is concerned and shall also not create any third party rights over the properties in question nor create any fresh or further encumbrances over the same till such time as the appeal or the stay Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:RAJENDER SINGH KARKI Signing Date:01.04.2022 13:11:54 application, whichever be earlier, is taken up for consideration by the Tribunal.
Though needless to state, it is clarified that the aforesaid interim arrangement has been made essentially on account of the Tribunal presently not being constituted. Consequently, it shall be open to the Tribunal to consider the appeal as well as the stay application independently and on its own merits uninfluenced by any observation appearing in this order. All contentions of respective parties on merits are kept open.
The writ petition along with the pending application stands disposed of on the aforesaid terms."
2. Mr.Mahajan, learned CGSC for the respondent, states that the situation remains the same and the appellate authority is yet to be constituted. Learned counsel in his usual fairness submitted that the present writ petition would warrant disposal on terms identical to those framed by the Court in W.P.(C) 4745/2022.
3. Subject to the petitioner filing an appeal before the Tribunal constituted under the Act within a period of three weeks from today, no coercive action including that of eviction shall be taken against the petitioners pursuant to the impugned order of 28 February 2022.
4. The petitioners shall maintain status quo insofar as possession of the attached property is concerned and shall also not create any third party rights over the properties in question nor create any fresh or further encumbrances over the same till such time as the appeal or the stay application, whichever be earlier, is taken up for consideration by the Tribunal.
5. The writ petition along with the pending application stands disposed of on the aforesaid terms.
YASHWANT VARMA, J.
MARCH 30, 2022/bh Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:RAJENDER SINGH KARKI Signing Date:01.04.2022 13:11:54