Mumbai: Observing that there was nothing to show that actor-businessman Sachiin Joshi had knowledge that he and companies associated with him were dealing with proceeds of crime, a special PMLA court on Tuesday discharged him from a money laundering case related to the Omkar Group of developers. “…basically prosecution complaint (chargesheet) and documents clearly show that they were never recipients of proceeds of crime,” special judge MG Deshpande said.

The court also accepted Joshi’s plea citing a Supreme Court ruling that held that when there is no predicate offence, a PMLA case cannot continue. The predicate or original offence against the accused and the firms, basedon which the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered its money laundering case, was closed in 2021.

The court also said that Joshi and the companies are entitled to discharge on grounds of parity with Omkar promoters, Babulal Varma and Kamalkishore Gupta, who were granted relief on August 24. This was the first such order by a special PMLA court. Represented by senior counsel Abad Ponda and advocate Subhash Jadhav for Parinam Law, Joshi had sought discharge earlier this year. In September, following the relief granted to Varma and Gupta, he sought parity.

Joshi was arrested in February 2021 and granted bail in March this year. The special PMLA court had then observed that no prima facie case ofmoney laundering existed against him. The ED had alleged that Omkar promoters took Rs 410 crore from Yes Bank to construct buildings for slumdwellers under a Slum Rehabilitation Authority scheme but diverted the money to group companies. Joshi was accused of helping Omkar Group to launder Rs 87 crore. In March 2020, an FIR was registered against Varma and Gupta in Aurangabad for cheating. Based on this predicate offence, a case was filed against them by the ED.

Police later filed a closure report in the Aurangabad case. The purported victim also gave a ‘no objection,’ saying the FIR was based on a misunderstanding and the amount due has been repaid. In 2021, the court in Aurangabad accepted the closure report and the matter was disposed of. In observations on the merits of the case, the special judge said the ED “nowhere says that Sachin Joshi and companies associated with him” had even a “remote role” to play in securing a loan of Rs 410 crore from Yes Bank and using it as proceeds of crime.

The court said Joshi was paid money because his name was lent to the SRA projects as a brand ambassador. “. . . applicants (Joshi) and his companies have paid GST of Rs 4.85 crore and TDS of Rs 2. 94 crore” for monies received from Omkar Realtors and Developers Pvt Ltd.

The judge said there was no evidence to suggest that the group of companies of the applicant were only on paper “to facilitate layering and integration of proceeds of crime as alleged in the complaint.”