孟買 HC 批准根據 PMLA 登記的婦女保釋，並指出她是 6 歲孩子的母親

鑑於 Simpy Bharadwaj 是一名 6 歲孩子的母親，孟買高等法院上週批准 Simpy Bharadwaj 保釋。

The Bombay High Court last week granted bail to Simpy Bharadwaj, who was booked by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in 2023 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for her alleged role in India's largest Bitcoin-based Ponzi scheme.

孟買高等法院上週批准 Simpy Bharadwaj 保釋，她因涉嫌參與印度最大的基於比特幣的龐氏騙局而於 2023 年根據《防止洗錢法》(PMLA) 被執法局 (ED) 登記。

A single-judge bench of Justice Manish Pitale observed that Bharadwaj, being a woman, is entitled to the benefit of the proviso to section 45(1) of the PMLA.

Manish Pitale 法官的獨任法官認為，Bharadwaj 身為女性，有權享有《PMLA》第 45(1) 條但書的規定。

"This Court is of the opinion that the applicant, in the present case, being a woman is entitled to the benefit of the proviso to Section 45(1) of the PMLA. This Court finds no reason as to why the applicant is to be denied the benefit of the exception carved out in the proviso for special treatment. In any case, it is not denied that the applicant is a mother to a six year old child, who obviously needs her care and company," the bench said in its October 11 order.

「本法院認為，在本案中，申請人作為一名女性，有權享受《PMLA》第 45(1) 條但書的規定。本法院並未發現申請人為何被否認了附帶條件中規定的特殊待遇的例外的好處無論如何，不可否認的是，申請人是一個六歲孩子的母親，顯然需要她的照顧和陪伴，」法官在其聲明中表示。10月11日 訂單。

The bench noted that Bharadwaj has suffered incarceration for about 10 months and said that further continuing her judicial custody would serve no purpose when the commencement of the trial in the present case, itself, will not be undertaken in the foreseeable future, thereby indicating that the completion of the trial will not take place within a reasonable period of time.

法官指出，Bharadwaj 已被監禁約 10 個月，並表示，在可預見的將來不會開始本案本身的審判時，進一步繼續對她進行司法拘留沒有任何意義，從而表明審判不會在合理的時間內完成。

Therefore, the bench granted her bail on a surety of Rs 50,000.

因此，法官以 50,000 盧比的擔保金準許她保釋。

The case pertains to the arrest of Bharadwaj, wife of Amit Bharadwaj, the promoter and founder of GainBitcoin.com.

該案涉及逮捕 Bharadwaj，她是 GainBitcoin.com 發起人和創始人 Amit Bharadwaj 的妻子。

It was alleged that Amit along with a few others, launched a ponzi scheme to lure investors, promising assured return of 10 per cent on every bitcoin for a period of 18 months.

據稱，阿米特與其他一些人一起發起了龐氏騙局來吸引投資者，承諾在 18 個月內每枚比特幣保證獲得 10% 的回報。

It was also alleged that the main accused persons collected 80,000 bitcoins valued at Rs.6,606 crores as on November 2017 from several investors and that no returns were ever paid back to the investors, thereby claiming that the offence of money laundering was committed.

據稱，截至 2017 年 11 月，主要被告從多名投資者收取了 8 萬枚比特幣，價值 660.6 億盧比，從未向投資者返還任何回報，從而聲稱犯有洗錢罪。

The ED had registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) in April 2018 against Bharadwaj and others.

教育署於 2018 年 4 月登記了針對 Bharadwaj 等人的執法案件資訊報告 (ECIR)。

Though Simpy Bharadwaj was not initially named in the report, she was arrested on December 17, 2023, following allegations of creating a 'ruckus' and obstructing the ED sleuths from conducting a search operation at her residence, due to which her husband and father-in-law escaped from being arrested.

儘管報告中最初並未提及Simpy Bharadwaj 的名字，但她於2023 年12 月17 日被捕，此前她被指控製造“騷亂”並阻礙教育局偵探在她的住所進行搜查行動，因此她的丈夫和父親——姻親逃脫了逮捕。

The anti-money laundering agency further claimed that the applicant Bharadwaj was involved in encouraging investors to invest in Bitcoin and had possession of crucial passwords linked to the proceeds of the crime.

該反洗錢機構進一步聲稱，申請人 Bharadwaj 參與鼓勵投資者投資比特幣，並擁有與犯罪收益相關的關鍵密碼。

Countering the contentions, Bharadwaj contended that she was not named in the initial two FIRs for the 'predicate offences' which led to the ED's ECIR.

巴拉德瓦吉反駁了這一觀點，她辯稱，在最初的兩份 FIR 中，她並未因「上游犯罪」而被點名，而正是這些「上游犯罪」導致了 ED 的 ECIR。

She pointed out that she was arrested merely on the ground that she obstructed the search operations.

她指出，她被捕只是因為她阻礙搜查行動。

She further argued that the ED had no substantial evidence to link her with the crime in question.

她進一步辯稱，教育署沒有實質證據將她與相關犯罪聯繫起來。

Going through the FIR and the ED's case against Bharadwaj, Justice Pitale noted that the 'grounds of arrest' furnished to her on December 17, 2023 were 'drafted in a hurry, without any objective test being applied.

Pitale 法官在審查 FIR 和 ED 對 Bharadwaj 的案件時指出，2023 年 12 月 17 日向她提供的「逮捕理由」是「倉促起草的，沒有進行任何客觀測試」。

"It can be said that there was lack of credible material to raise a reasonable suspicion against the applicant when she was arrested. A bare perusal of the grounds of arrest shows that a chart is given enumerating the numerous FIRs, including the two FIRs of the year 2019 and one of the year 2022, wherein the applicant was arraigned as an accused. It is stated that the ECIR was recorded after such FIRs were registered. The ECIR was recorded on April 3, 2018 itself, while the three FIRs in which the applicant was arraigned as an accused were registered much thereafter. This material supports the contention raised on behalf of the applicant about the arrest of the applicant violating Section 19 of the PMLA," the court said while granting bail to Bharadwaj.

「可以說，申請人被捕時，缺乏可信的材料對她提出合理懷疑。粗略地看一下逮捕理由，就可以看到一張圖表，列舉了眾多的FIR，包括該國的兩個FIR。 」 2019 年和 2022 年其中一年，其中申請人被作為被告提審。據稱，ECIR 是在此類 FIR 註冊後記錄的，而 ECIR 是在 2018 年 4 月 3 日記錄的。申請人被提審，因為被告在此後很久就被登記了。

Appearance:

外貌：

Advocates Akhilesh Dubey, Sagar Wakale, Vagish Mishra, Amit Dubey, Uttam Dubey, Rajuram Kuleriya, Varad Dubey, Shubham Sharma, Alex D'souza, Emad Khan and Sahil Upadhyay appeared for the Applicant.

辯護律師 Akhilesh Dubey、Sagar Wakale、Vagish Mishra、Amit Dubey、Uttam Dubey、Rajuram Kuleriya、Varad Dubey、Shubham Sharma、Alex D'souza、Emad Khan 和 Sahil Upadhyay 代表申請人出庭。

Special Counsel Shreeram Shirsat along with Advocates Shekhar Mane and Nikhil Daga the represented the ED.

特別顧問 Shreeram Shirsat 以及律師 Shekhar Mane 和 Nikhil Daga 代表教育署。

Additional Public Prosecutor Balraj Kulkarni represented the State.

另一位檢察官巴拉吉·庫爾卡尼 (Balraj Kulkarni) 代表國家。

Case Title: Sumit Bharadwaj vs Union of India (Bail Application 2016 of 2024)

案名：Sumit Bharadwaj 訴印度聯盟（2016 年或 2024 年保釋申請）