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Suryakant Tiwari and others, as to how Mr. Suryakant Tiwari used to extort money against the coal delivery orders, at the  connivance of the senior bureaucrats in Chhattisgarh including the appellant, and how the said money extorted was being utilized towards the payment of bribes and acquisition of immovable properties for the bureaucrats including the appellant.

(iii) The appellant, the Deputy Secretary attached as an OSD to the CMO, though was relatively a junior officer, she used to exercise considerable influence and control because of her access to higher political powers, and the accused- Suryakant Tiwari was able to operate the syndicate and the extortion racket only because he had the backing of the appellant.

(iv) Investigation has revealed that the appellant was one of the key persons in the creation of extortion racket run by Suryakant Tiwari and that approximately Rs.540 crores were extorted by Mr. Suryakant Tiwari. Further, Mr. Manish Upadhyay who was a relative of the Suryakant Tiwari, and who was a close associate of the appellant, was used as a layer of protection for the cash dealings between Suryakant Tiwari and the appellant.

 (v) The appellant had allegedly utilized the monies received from the extortion racket towards the purchase of properties in the names of her mother (Shanti Devi Chaurasia), her cousin (Anurag Chaurasia) and her husband (Sourabh Modi), the details of which have been given in the prosecution complaint.

(vi) The use of the expression “may be” in the proviso to Section 45 of PMLA indicates that the benefit of the proviso cannot be extended mandatorily or automatically, and the discretion has to be exercised by the Courts depending upon the facts of each case.

Information shared by the Income Tax Department and analysis of documents and digital devices seized during the searches conducted u/s 17 of PMLA, 2002 revealed that Smt. Saumya Chaurasia, Deputy Secretary working in the Chief Minister's Office, is one of the key persons in creation of the syndicate headed by Shri Suryakant Tiwari. An extortion racket of this magnitude & nature was possible only when multiple State agencies fell in place and everyone supported the illegal acts of Suryakant Tiwari. This was made possible by Saumya Chaurasia so that pliant officers were posted in the coal mining districts who would listen to Suryakant Tiwari. Also, it was an unwritten rule that instructions of Suryakant Tiwari meant the voice of Saumya Chaurasia and the powers to be. The fact that Suryakant Tiwari had personal & close official dealings with her and was carrying her instructions to the Officers, made it possible for Suryakant Tiwari to also command senior District level officers. This illegal authority was essential for him to run his empire of illegal extortion from Coal & Iron Pellet transportation. Without his concurrence, no NOG was issued by the district machinery. All this was made possible by the fact that he was in the good books of Mrs. Saumya Chaurasia. Therefore, she has directly indulged in the offence of Money Laundering as defined under section 3 of the PMLA, 2002 being actually involved in the process of Money Laundering by way of possession, concealment, use, acquisition and projecting the Proceeds of Crime as untainted property.