SC serves notice to DE following Chandraswami's petition

New Delhi, Feb 26 (UNI) The Supreme Couurt today issued notice to the Directorate of Enforcement (DE) on a petition filed by Nemi Chand Jain alias Chandraswami, challenging the High Court order refusing to quash the proceedings initiated against the petitioner and his associates under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice R V Raveendran issued the notices after hearing the counsel for the godman, who was earlier directed by the DE to pay fine of Rs 10 lakh for receiving foreign exchange illegaly from persons other than the authorised dealer.

The DE had earlier imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh each on Chandraswami and Vikram Singh, Personal Assistant (PA) to Chandraswami and a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on Prakash Chandra Yadav, another associate of the godman who was also involved in illegal foreign exchange.

The accessing authority namely Foreign Exchange Tribunal upheld the penalty and the Appellate Tribunal had also dismissed the appeal, but Delhi High Court directed the DE vide order dated October 3, 2006 to complete the investigation within six weeks without insisting on pre-deposit of the penalty.

UNI