The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) provisions and the authority of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) were affirmed by the Supreme Court in a significant decision on Wednesday. According to the Supreme Court, the measures relating to arrest and bail are reasonable and directly relate to the Act’s goals.
A three-judge panel, made up of Justices AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari, and CT Ravikumar, said it is not required to give the accused a copy of the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) of the complaint. The accused must only be told the reason(s) for their arrest, the court said, in order to suffice.
Another group of cases connected to the same ED investigation into the alleged Chhattisgarh liquor scam were heard on May 16 with the same requests for similar orders. The court instructed all proceedings to be heard on July 18 and issued notice and protection from arrest. Dave informed the court that while the issues before the vacation bench are identical, they could as well be discussed in July. It’s noteworthy that following the judgement in Vijay Madanlal Chaudhary on July 27, the top court approved a review petition made by MP Karti P Chidambaram (who is also accused under PMLA) against the ruling in August, paving the way for a re-evaluation of the punitive provisions.
As the only two provisions being contested in the petition filed by the Congress leader, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, speaking on behalf of the ED, informed the court that since notice in the Govind Singh case was served, a new pattern of petitions contesting PMLA sections 50 and 63 has emerged. The Vijay Madanlal Chaudhary judgement was the result of multiple petitions that were filed in the first round and contested a number of PMLA clauses. With the filing of the Govind Singh issue, a second round has now begun, Mehta said. “This cannot continue after a judgement has been delivered.”
The bench agreed and requested that the advocates make their case. The court scheduled the subject for hearing on Tuesday and stated: “We will decide this issue before us and other petitions (already pending in the top court) will follow the usual course.” This was done since the entirety of the Vijay Madanlal Chaudhary judgement was not produced on record.
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India Today- Decoding the big SC verdict on Prevention of Money Laundering Act – India Today
Written By- Smrutiman Anantveer Mohanty, College Name- Army Law College, Pune, Semester- Smrutiman Anantveer Mohanty, an intern under Legal Vidhiya
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