Directorate of Enforcement Ministry of Finance Thr. the Assistant Director v. P. Upadhyaya
Case brief
What is this about?
Bombay High Court FEMA appeals; Directorate of Enforcement v. Standard Chartered Grindlays Ltd. and officers; Directorate of Enforcement v. Canara Bank and officers (M. M. Chungath, S. A. Lakshmi, P. Upadhyaya); Appellate Tribunal judgment dated 20.09.2019 set aside FERA-era 1991 remittance penalties; S.35 FEMA 1999 condonation of delay 43-60 days; appeals withdrawn by consent; forfeiture of INR 7,25,07,000 penalty deposits; fresh deposit of INR 62,00,000 by ANZ Banking Group/SCB-side respondents within four weeks; refund of INR 62,00,000 to Canara Bank within three months; abatement on death of Raul/Paul Pereira; speaking to the minutes; order not a precedent.
What did the court decide?
All contested appeals disposed of as withdrawn on consensual terms: the INR 7,25,07,000/- deposited by the SCB-matter respondents is not refundable; the SCB-matter respondents/Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited are to deposit a further INR 62,00,000/- within four weeks (non-refundable, without prejudice, no admission of liability); Canara Bank may obtain refund of its matching INR 62,00,000/- deposit within three months of its application; the order is expressly not to be treated as a precedent. One appeal (No.1120 of 2020) abated; delay-condonation IAs allowed; five unserved appeals disposed of as withdrawn.