ED attaches mall shops in Haryana in environment pollution-linked PMLA case

New Delhi: The ED has attached shops worth more than Rs 5 crore located in a mall in Haryana's Sonipat as part of a money-laundering investigation against a company charged with flouting environmental norms in its residential township projects, the federal agency said on Saturday.

The action has been taken against TDI Infrastructure Limited.

Eight commercial spaces or shops in TDI Mall at GT Road, Kundli (Sonipat), have been provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in a statement.

The value of these immovable properties is Rs 5.61 crore, it added.

The money-laundering case stems from three criminal complaints filed in August 2020 by the Haryana State Pollution Control Board before a special environment court in Kurukshetra against TDI Infrastructure and its directors named Ravinder Kumar Taneja, Kamal Taneja and Devki Nandan Taneja.

The accused, according to the ED, have been charged with violation of provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act in its developed residential townships -- Kingsbury Apartments, My Floor 2 and Tuscan City -- in Kundli.

The company was "statutorily" mandated to treat the sewage water or domestic effluent by installing standardised sewage treatment plants after obtaining approval from the pollution control board, the agency said.

The company "failed" to comply with the norms and was found collecting untreated sewage water in a cemented collection tank and discharging this waste using tankers on open land for percolation, causing "enormous" damage to public health and the environment, it added.

By "contravening" the mandatory provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, TDI Infrastructure generated "proceeds of crime" of Rs 5.61 crore and kept "enjoying" the same, the agency further said.

The company or its directors could not immediately be contacted for their response on the ED's allegations.