Gulshan Babbar Advocate vs State Of Nct Of Delhi & Ors

Headnote AI-drafted · Editorially reviewed

The Petitioner, an advocate, filed multiple writ petitions under Article 226 of the Constitution of India before the Delhi High Court seeking directions to statutory authorities including the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to investigate alleged siphoning of funds by M/s IREO Residences Company Pvt. Ltd., its group companies, and its directors Mr. Lalit Goyal and Ms. Sapna Goyal, and to attach proceeds of crime under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The petitions also sought to impugn a Provisional Attachment Order passed by the ED and challenged the adequacy of asset attachment in the IREO Group money laundering case.

The Court noted that the Petitioner had filed successive writ petitions on the same cause of action without disclosing the pendency of earlier petitions, making false declarations in the mandatory non-filing clauses. The primary issue directed to be adjudicated first was whether the writ petitions were maintainable, particularly in light of the Petitioner's failure to disclose related pending proceedings and the multiplicity of petitions filed on the same subject matter.

The Court considered the issue of maintainability of the writ petitions as a threshold question, having directed through earlier orders dated 21.05.2024 and 21.11.2024 that arguments on maintainability would be heard and adjudicated before any other relief could be considered. The matter involved significant allegations of investigative bias and collusion by the ED in attaching assets worth only Rs. 1,317 crores against identified proceeds of crime of Rs. 4,246 crores.

Catchwords: writ petition maintainability Article 226 Prevention of Money Laundering Act Provisional Attachment Order Directorate of Enforcement CBI investigation real estate fraud siphoning of funds IREO Group non-disclosure of pending proceedings false declaration multiplicity of proceedings proceeds of crime money laundering