ORDER : (V.R.K. Krupa Sagar, J.) 1. By the present petition, the petitioner herein/A1 seeks relaxation of bail conditions and various grounds are urged in this petition. 2. The Directorate of Enforcement/respondent filed a detailed counter opposing the prayer of the petitioner and seeks dismissal of this petition. 3. Sri J.Sarath Chandra, learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri J.Bhaskara Rao, learned Special Public Prosecutor, Directorate of Enforcement, Government of India submitted their arguments. 4. A few facts need to be noticed. The chairman of the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation, Andhra Pradesh (APSSDC) lodged a written information. Upon which, Crime No.29 of 2021 of C.I.D.Police Station, A.P., Amarvathi, Mangalagiri was registered for the offences punishable under Sections 166, 167, 418, 420, 465, 468, 471, 409, 201 and 109 read with 120B of the IPC and 13(2) read with 13(1)(c) and (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 was registered. The present petitioner is one of the accused and he was arrested and thereafter he was released on bail. The said case is the predicate offence. Upon the predicate offence, Directorate of Enforcement registered ECIR for the offence of money laundering under Section 3 of the prevention of Money Laundering Act and the same was registered as ECIR/HYZO/03/2022 dated 07.01.2022. 5. During investigation of it, this petitioner/A1 was interrogated on multiple occasions and was finally arrested on 04.03.2023. On the prayer made police custody was granted from 14.03.2023 to 20.03.2023. Thereafter, the petitioner sought bail and filed criminal petition No.2906 of 2023 and a learned Judge of this Court by an elaborate order dated 12.05.2023 granted the prayer for bail with certain conditions. Paragraph No.18 is the operative portion of the said order, which reads as below: 18. In the result, the Criminal Petition is allowed. The petitioner shall be enlarged on bail on his executing a personal bond for a sum of Rs.50,000/- (Rupees fifty thousand only) with two sureties each for the like sum to the satisfaction of the I Additional Sessions Judge-cum Metropolitan Sessions Judge, Visakhapatnam. On release, the petitioner shall co-operate with the investigating agency and shall attend before the investigating agency once in a week i.e. on every Friday between 10.00 AM and 5.00 PM. The petitioner shall surrender his passport before the Court below. 6. On release, the petitioner shall co-operate with the investigating agency and shall attend before the investigating agency once in a week i.e. on every Friday between 10.00 AM and 5.00 PM. The petitioner shall surrender his passport before the Court below. 6. It is undisputed that all the above-mentioned bail conditions were complied with and the petitioner accordingly availed his bail. 7. Sometime later, the petitioner filed I.A.No.1 of 2023 seeking relaxation of condition concerning his periodical appearance before the investigating authority. After noticing due compliance of the bail condition for a period of ten weeks, this Court by an order dated 27.07.2023 allowed that application and relaxed that condition. 8. By the present application, the petitioner seeks relaxation of the condition concerning his passport which he had deposited before the Court below in due obedience to the bail condition. It is undisputed that since the time of obtaining of bail during May, 2023 the passport of the petitioner/accused has not been with him and it has been with the Court below. 9. The grounds urged in the application and the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioner are to the effect that this petitioner is working professional in Kolkata and New Delhi and his work/business involves travelling abroad on regular basis and he has been in need of attending meetings, work emergencies in different countries and his livelihood depends on this line of work. Surrender of his passport has affected his entire livelihood and is seriously hampering his profession causing great difficulty and hardship to him. That the respondent authorities completed their investigation and filed charge sheet and this petitioner has been attending the Court process scrupulously. In these circumstances, he prays for release of his passport. 10. In the counter filed on behalf of the respondent, Directorate of Enforcement, in great detail, the nature of the offence committed and the manner in which it was committed and the role played by various accused including the petitioner and the law relating to money laundering are all mentioned. Learned Special Public Prosecutor Sri J.Bhaskara Rao vehemently opposed the prayer stating that investigation revealed involvement of M/s. Ben Research Pvt Ltd, Singapore which belongs to one of the close associates of this applicant/accused. Investigation also found foreign outward remittances running into crores of rupees to the united kingdom and Singapore. Learned Special Public Prosecutor Sri J.Bhaskara Rao vehemently opposed the prayer stating that investigation revealed involvement of M/s. Ben Research Pvt Ltd, Singapore which belongs to one of the close associates of this applicant/accused. Investigation also found foreign outward remittances running into crores of rupees to the united kingdom and Singapore. All those funds were the Government funds that were siphoned off and substantial part of the proceeds of crime are parked by the accused outside India. It is further argued that this Court while granting bail imposed fair and just conditions in proportion to the magnitude of the offence and relaxation of any such conditions is not justified. The contention of the applicant that he needs to travel abroad in relation to his work is very bald and does not deserve any consideration. The condition for depositing passport was to prevent applicant from travelling abroad on his own whims and fancies and preventing him from accessing the proceeds of crime. Relaxing the condition may impede the process of trial. The applicant has not been cooperative during investigation and he is a potential flight risk. For these reasons, he prays this Court to dismiss the application. 11. On considering the entire material on record and the forceful submissions made on both sides the following aspects are to be taken note of. The predicate offence in Crime No.29 of 2021 has been still under investigation and despite lapse of three years and more, the charge sheet is not filed. The ECIR in the PMLA case was investigated into and relevant complaint was lodged and cognizance was taken by the competent Court and the trial process has been underway. The aspect concerning non-cooperation of the applicant with the investigation agencies was a point that was greatly debated during bail hearing and the learned Judge of this Court in the order dated 12.05.2023 in Criminal Petition No.2906 of 2023 observed that till then no material was brought on record indicating flow of money into the account of this applicant so as to find his complicity. It was further mentioned that this applicant has always made himself available for investigation with all the investigation agencies and that he fully cooperated with the investigation agencies and appeared before them on multiple occasions. Search of his residential premises did not bring anything incriminating against him. It was further mentioned that this applicant has always made himself available for investigation with all the investigation agencies and that he fully cooperated with the investigation agencies and appeared before them on multiple occasions. Search of his residential premises did not bring anything incriminating against him. Investigations for a period of 15 months did not bring any material to substantiate the accusations made against him with reference to flow of any money into the accounts of the applicant. 12. Challenging the bail order, respondent filed SLP (Crl) No.14509 of 2023 and the same has been pending before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India. With reference to bail granted to another accused in the same crime, the respondent filed SLP (Crl) No.14507 of 2023 and the same was rejected by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India. By the averments in the petition and the submissions in the counter and the submissions of the learned counsel on both sides these aspects are not in dispute. Both sides also submitted that pendency of matter before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of Inda in the earlier mentioned SLP (Crl) No.14509 of 2023 is not a legal hurdle to consider and dispose of the present application which is filed seeking relaxation of one of the bail conditions. In these circumstances, the contentions raised in the counter with reference to the offence allegedly committed do not require any deliberation as that part of the exercise was done when the bail application was considered. 13. The occupation of the applicant and his business requirements needing his travel to various countries for business purposes is a fact which is not in dispute. The only question is that relaxing the condition and returning him the passport leads to potential flight risk and his access to the funds that were allegedly parked elsewhere in the world. It is on that apprehension; the prayer is strongly opposed by the respondent. In this regard, it is to be noticed that with reference to allegations about likelihood of the petitioner accessing the funds parked outside the country the respondent has not brought to the notice of the Court about taking any legal action against the funds that are allegedly parked elsewhere in the world. Therefore, the said apprehension has no basis for any further consideration in this petition. Therefore, the said apprehension has no basis for any further consideration in this petition. The right to do business and travel anywhere in the world to meet once own legitimate needs is of a matter of right which is fundamental and that cannot be withheld without substantial reasons. A mere contention that petitioner may leave the country and may not return back to the country since some accused in some money laundering cases did so by itself is not a ground to take a view in the present case. The facts in the present case and the material made available in justification of the apprehensions alleged alone shall form part of consideration here. Looking at the facts available and the compliance of bail conditions by the petitioner all these years and his cooperation to investigation agencies as recorded by this Court in the bail order in effect disclose that the petitioner is in genuine need of his passport. This Court finds that the apprehensions raised by the respondent are mere apprehensions and such apprehensions do not weigh well as against the consequences of denial of the prayer. It shall be recorded here itself that directing the release of passport and subjecting the petitioner to further conditions in utilizing it would well serve the legitimate purposes of the petitioner and the legitimate needs of the law enforcement agencies. Therefore, this Court is inclined to allow the prayer subject to certain conditions. 14. In the result, this petition is allowed. The learned First Additional Sessions Judge, Visakhapatnam is directed to return the passport of Sri Soumyadri Sekhar Bose alias Suman Bose S/o Niladri Sekhar Bose/A1 in ECIR/HYZO/03/2022 to him under proper acknowledgment and on execution of a personal bond for Rs.25,000/- (Rupees twenty five thousand only) and on his undertaking that as and when directed by the learned I Additional Sessions Judge, Visakhapatnam he should redeposit the same and shall well in advance inform the entire travel details of him to the learned First Additional Sessions Judge, Visakhapatnam.