Court Orders CBI to Return Seized Cash After 10-Year Delay with Additional Compensation

Mumbai:

A court has issued a strong rebuke to the CBI for 'sleeping over' its 2015 directive to return Rs 50,000 seized during an investigation, ordering the central agency to return the amount along with an additional Rs 5,000 as compensation.

Special CBI Judge VP Desai further stated that the agency could recover the penalty from the investigating officer's salary directly.

The case originated in September 2014 when the CBI confiscated Rs 50,000 in cash from applicant Peres Pezarkar's residence during a search related to a corruption investigation.

After failing to gather sufficient evidence against the accused, the CBI closed the case in November 2015. The court subsequently instructed the agency to return all documents and items seized during their investigation.

Pezarkar recently approached the court stating he had not yet received the money, arguing that this constituted deliberate non-compliance amounting to "disobedience of lawful orders passed by the court."

He requested the court to direct the CBI to pay 18 percent interest from November 2015 in addition to returning the original amount.

In its November 15 order, the court expressed surprise, stating, "It is surprising that even after orders were passed by the predecessor of this Court, CBI has slept over the matter for almost ten years." The court noted that the agency itself had concluded it lacked sufficient material to proceed against Pezarkar.

The court pointed out that demonetization was announced on November 8, 2016, which invalidated the original currency notes, yet the investigating officer failed to return the cash to Pezarkar during the two-month buffer period when he could have deposited the notes with a bank.

Regarding the CBI's request to deposit the cash with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the court said "there is no hitch in considering" it.

However, the court mandated that after depositing the old currency notes with the RBI, the CBI must ensure Pezarkar receives new currency notes of equivalent value.

The court ruled that since the applicant had been deprived of Rs 50,000 for all these years, the CBI should pay him a cost of Rs 5,000 as compensation.