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    SC stays HC order quashing LRs issued in Adani Coal Import case

    Synopsis

    The Supreme Court stayed the Bombay High Court's order quashing the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seeking information about the alleged Rs 29,000-crore over-invoicing by Adani Enterprises Limited in connection with coal imports from Indonesia. The Solicitor General argued the high court order had prevented DRI from collecting evidence.

    courtAgencies
    New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed an October 2017 Bombay High Court order quashing all letters rogatory issued by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) to 14 countries, including Singapore and UAE, seeking information about the alleged Rs 29,000-crore over-invoicing by Adani Enterprises Limited in connection with coal imports from Indonesia.

    “This is a denial of the DRI’s right to collect evidence,” Chief Justice of India SA Bobde said, staying the HC judgement.

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    In doing so, the CJI brushed off objections from Adani that argued through its counsel that it had handed over all the papers sought by the investigative agency in January 2018, to help in the probe. The Adani case was argued by senior advocate Vikram Nankani. He was assisted by lawyer Mahesh Agrawal of Agrawal and Associates.

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    The order came on a plea by the DRI, which was represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. Mehta argued that the high court order had virtually prevented DRI from collecting any evidence in the case. “This prevents us from collecting evidence.”

    Mehta pointed out that the case related to over-invoicing by the company of its coal import bills. The company, which was engaged in electricity generation, had imported coal from Indonesia, he said, seeking a stay on the high court order.

    He said that the letters rogatory had not been issued to Adani but to foreign entities.

    The CJI, who was sitting alongside Justice BR Gavai and Justice Surya Kant, observed that the HC order had the effect of denying the DRI the right to collect evidence.

    “It doesn’t affect your rights,” the CJI told Adani’s lawyer, who opposed any stay on the ground that it was tantamount to allowing the proceedings against the company to go on. Instead, the CJI asked the company to respond to the DRI plea within two weeks, after which it would take up the issue again.

    The coal imports relate to the period between 2011 and 2015. The probe began in 2016 and letters rogatories — formal court requests for information relating to offshore entities from the judicial system in another jurisdiction — were issued the same year.

    All of them were quashed by the Bombay High Court on the ground of procedural irregularities without a look at their merits.

    The high court said that it hadn’t examined the merits of the letters rogatories but was only going by the fact that the magistrate had issued it even though other safeguards of the CrPC had not been followed in the case. The alleged offences related to violations under the Customs Act.


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