#Asset Confiscation

The court ruled that offences under the Public Gambling Act do not constitute 'gang' activity under the U.P. Gangsters Act, and a vehicle purchased before any FIR was registered cannot be confiscated merely because loan EMIs were paid post-FIR without concrete evidence linking those payments to criminal proceeds. This decision protects pre-acquisition assets from speculative attachment under the Act.

The Supreme Court granted bail to a former Jharkhand Minister, ruling that prolonged custody and overlapping prosecutions for the same assets amount to double jeopardy. The Court emphasized the need to restore tribal lands as a condition for release, setting a precedent for bail jurisprudence in corruption cases involving asset confiscation.