Bengaluru: Karnataka high court has refused to stall the investigation against Ozone Urbana Infra Developers Pvt Ltd and its directors over complaints filed by homebuyers, as well as proceedings initiated by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
“What cannot escape consideration is the nature and magnitude of the allegations against the petitioners,” the judge observed, noting that the alleged offences weren’t ordinary crimes confined to an individual complainant or an isolated transaction. They had the features of economic offences affecting several stakeholders, “most significantly, scores of homebuyers”. The company, its chairperson and directors, including the managing director, had sought the quashing of FIRs registered by Devanahalli police and the money-laundering proceedings initiated by ED. The petitioners argued that the disputes were contractual in nature and that homebuyers had alternative remedies, making the issues essentially civil in nature. Regarding the ED proceedings, they contended that these amounted to double jeopardy, since proceedings had already been initiated on complaints by homebuyers arising from the same set of facts. The judge, however, quashed proceedings against the company’s chairperson, managing director and CEO in relation to a private complaint filed by Padmanabha, proprietor of an earth-moving works company engaged by the petitioners. The complaint concerned non-payment of dues.
Because their consequences often extended beyond an identifiable victim, the judge said economic offences were distinct from conventional crimes. Alleged diversion of money collected from homebuyers could affect public confidence in commercial and financial arrangements, he added.