9 The fact remains that 22 cases of serious nature were registered by the police against Sridhar, which include murder, attempt to murder, extortion, criminal intimidation, use of fire arms and criminal conspiracy to commit such offences. It is not in dispute that most of the offences mentioned in the FIRs are schedule offences under the PML Act and therefore, the Enforcement Directorate was justified in registering a case under the PML Act and taking up the investigation. The Enforcement Directorate has conducted extensive investigation and has identified 5 immovable properties in the name of Sridhar, 68 immovable properties in the name of Kumari, his wife, 10 immovable properties in the name of the petitioner, apart from the immovable properties purchased in the name of the other accused. It is not the case of the accused that Sridhar was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and that by sheer dint of hard work expending his sweat and blood, he had acquired the properties. The properties that stand in the name of the petitioner are valued at Rs.19 crores. In the complaint, the Enforcement Directorate has given the guideline value of the properties acquired by Sridhar and his cohorts and has also given the actual price paid for the properties. The margin between the two, viz ., the guideline value and the actual purchase price, appears to be very wide. For instance, there are 10 immovable properties in the name of the petitioner for which the guideline value is around Rs.19 crores, whereas, the actual purchase price is only around Rs.3.50 crores. This, prima facie , shows that prime properties have been acquired for peanuts by criminal intimidation, extortion and threat of murder.
