Bombay High Court Quashes PMLA Case Against DB Realty, MD In Case Linked To Ex-Minister Chhagan Bhujbal

The Bombay High Court has quashed money laundering proceedings against DB Realty Managing Director Vinod Goenka and the company in a case linked to former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Cabinet Minister Chhagan Bhujbal.

It held that the prosecution could not continue after Parvesh Construction Pvt Ltd, from whom the petitioners were alleged to have received the proceeds of crime, was discharged.

Justice Ashwin D. Bhobe said, "Considering that the Accused No. 4 (M/s. Parvesh Construction Pvt. Ltd), from whom the Petitioners are alleged to have received the proceeds of crime, has been discharged on the finding that no scheduled offence exists and consequently, no proceeds of crime, the pronouncement of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Vijay Madanlal Choudhary (supra) and the Division Bench of this Court in the case of Nilesh J. Thakur (supra) would squarely apply to the case of the Petitioners."

The Enforcement Directorate alleged that Bhujbal and others generated proceeds of crime through scheduled offences. It claimed that Goenka and DB Realty knowingly entered into a sham real estate transaction by paying ₹5 crore to Parvesh Construction Pvt Ltd as an advance for a proposed land acquisition project.

According to the ED, the money was later returned. However, it alleged that the transaction was not a genuine investment but was designed to conceal and channel tainted funds while projecting them as legitimate.

The petitioners argued that Parvesh had since been discharged from both the scheduled offence and the money laundering case. Relying on the Supreme Court's ruling in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary, they contended that the proceedings against them could not continue once Parvesh Construction had been discharged on the finding that the money involved did not constitute proceeds of crime. The ED did not dispute that the discharge orders had attained finality.

The court noted that the special court had discharged Parvesh Construction after finding that the money involved in the transaction did not constitute "proceeds of crime." It also noted that the discharge order had attained finality.

The court observed, "Incontestably, M/s. Parvesh Construction Pvt. Ltd has been discharged from the scheduled offence in the PMLA Special Case bearing Nos. 2 of 2016 and 03 of 2018, as well as in the PMLA Case Nos. 2 of 2016 and 03 of 2018, by a common order dated 23.01.2026 passed by the Special Court, on the basis that the money which is the subject matter of the transaction does not constitute 'proceeds of crime'."

Since the petitioners were alleged to have received the proceeds of crime from Parvesh Construction, the court held that the principles laid down in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary and Nilesh J. Thakur squarely applied to their case.

The court allowed the petition. It quashed the money laundering proceedings against Goenka and DB Realty, along with the Special court's earlier orders issuing process and rejecting their discharge application.

For Petitioners: Vikram Nankani, Aabad Ponda Senior Advocates, Parimal Shroff, Sajal Yadav, Arpit Mutha, D. V. Deokar, Sachin Pandey i/b Aishwarya Kantawala, Advocates

For Respondents: Manisha Jagtap, Special Public Prosecutor

For State: Rajeshree Newton, APP