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Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society Ltd. v. Central Bureau of Investigation

Criminal Appeal · 2018 INSC 661Decided 31 Jul 2018
Criminal Appeal No. 952 of 2018
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul

Background

In an earlier order, the Supreme Court had allowed the Society to withdraw certain bank amounts claimed in the case, provided it furnished security in the form of immovable property. When the Society offered the land on which its housing complex stood as that security, the CBI Special Judge rejected it, reasoning that the disputed structure stood on that very land, which was itself the subject matter of the case, so it could not also serve as security. The Society appealed this rejection.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court noted the land had been validly allotted to the Society by the State of Maharashtra for over Rs. 12.6 crore, and that the frozen funds were needed for litigation expenses, making their denial effectively a denial of access to justice. Without going into the State's and CBI's other objections, and keeping all other contentions open, the Court confined itself to the narrow question of releasing the funds against the land security. It set aside the Special Judge's order, directed that the land be accepted as security, and ordered the funds released.

Lesson Learnt

A court can order release of funds frozen in connection with a pending criminal case against adequate alternative security, even where the security offered is linked to the disputed subject matter, if denying access to those funds would otherwise cut off a party's ability to fund its own legal defence.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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