In a groundbreaking ruling on Thursday, May 16, the Supreme Court declared that once the special court has acknowledged a complaint of money laundering, the ED and its officers are prohibited from arresting an accused under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
“After notice is taken of the offense punishable under Section 4 of the PMLA based on a complaint under Section 44, the ED and its officers are powerless to exercise the power under Section 19 to arrest the person shown as accused in the complaint. After hearing the accused, the Special Court must pass an order on the application after recording brief reasons. While hearing the application, the court may permit custody only if it is satisfied that custodial integration is required even though the accused was never arrested under Section 19,” the bench of judges said.
The bench of judges, comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, stated in its ruling that accused individuals summoned to appear before are not obligated to seek bail, so the dual conditions highlighted in Section 45 of PMLA do not apply to them.
The twin conditions are as follows: one, there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of the offense of money-laundering; and second, he is not likely to commit any offense while on bail.
During a hearing, Justice Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan noted, “The ED cannot arrest a person once a complaint is filed.
This issue came to light in front of the apex court in the Panjab and Haryana High Court ruling that rejected bail for the accused in the money laundering case. This case included accusations related to a land scam involving revenue officials.
