Rs 18,000 cr was returned to banks due to Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi: Center to SC

The Central Government told the Supreme Court today that Rs 18,000 crores of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi have been returned to the banks. The Supreme Court heard the petition challenging the provisions of PMLA. The Center defended the provisions in the Supreme Court. The Center said that Rs 18,000 crore has been returned to banks due to Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. Cases worth Rs 67,000 crore in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases are pending in the Supreme Court. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta presented the Centre’s side before the bench of Justice AM Khanwilkar, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and CT Ravi Kumar on behalf of the Centre.

Tushar Mehta said that 4,700 PMLA cases are being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The number of cases taken up for investigation is increasing every year in the last five years. In the year 2015-16, there were 111 cases, in 2020-21 it has gone up to 981. During the last five years (2016-17 to 2020-21) 33 lakh FIRs were registered for such offenses but only 2,086 cases were investigated under PMLA. Investigations under PMLA compared to annual cases under Money Laundering Act in UK (7,900), US (1,532), China (4,691), Austria (1,036), Hong Kong (1,823), Belgium (1,862) and Russia (2,764) Very few cases are being taken up for

The Supreme Court is hearing petitions challenging the wide range of powers available to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for search, seizure, investigation and attachment of proceeds of offense under the PMLA. Several senior lawyers, including Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Mukul Rohatgi, have argued before the SC on various aspects related to the possible misuse of the recent PMLA amendments. Stringent bail conditions, non-reporting of grounds of arrest, arrest of persons without ECIR (similar to FIR) copy, broad definition of money laundering and proceeds of offence, and statements made by accused during investigation to be treated as evidence in trial The law has been criticized on many aspects.