ED’s right to arrest under money laundering upheld, SC said – arrest process is not arbitrary
The Supreme Court delivered its verdict on petitions challenging the process of arrest, seizure and investigation conducted by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Supreme Court gives green signal to ED’s powers in PMLA cases. The Supreme Court upheld the ED’s right to arrest under the PMLA. The court said that the process of arrest is not arbitrary. The Supreme Court upheld the stringent provisions of PMLA on the double conditions of proceeds of offence, search and seizure, power of arrest, attachment of properties and bail.
This decision came on a total of 242 petitions including the petitions of Karti Chidambaram, Anil Deshmukh. The court said that the right of ED to arrest under PMLA will remain intact. The arrest process is not arbitrary. A special bench of Justice AM Khanwilkar, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and CT Ravi Kumar gave this verdict.
While pronouncing the verdict, Justice Khanwilkar said that the question was whether some amendments have been made, they could not be done. We have left the question open to a 7-judge bench whether the amendment could have been done by Parliament or not.
The Supreme Court said that the offenses under Section 3 are based on illegal gain. Under the 2002 Act, the authorities cannot prosecute anyone unless such complaint is presented before a competent forum. Article 5 is constitutionally valid. It provides a balancing act and shows how the proceeds of crime can be traced.
The Supreme Court said, it is not mandatory for the ED officials to disclose the grounds of arrest at the time of detaining an accused in a money laundering case.
The Supreme Court sent all the transfer petitions back to the concerned High Court. Those who have interim relief, it will remain in place for four weeks, unless the private parties seek withdrawal of relief from the court.
The Supreme Court said that, since ED officers are not police officers, there can be double punishment in an offense under PMLA.
