SC to hear review pleas against 2022 verdict upholding ED’s powers in money laundering cases
Supreme Court Sets Date for Review Challenges to Landmark Money-Laundering Ruling
Bharatmorningnews.com – In New Delhi, the Supreme Court on Thursday cleared a cluster of petitions seeking a review of its 2022 judgment that had affirmed the Enforcement Directorate's authority to make arrests, seize assets tied to money-laundering activity, and execute searches and seizures under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Bench Allocation and Procedural Urgency
The three-judge panel — Chief Justice Surya Kant alongside Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana — recorded the arguments of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who represented Karti Chidambaram. Sibal pressed the court to take up the matters immediately, noting that notices on the petitions had gone out as far back as August 2022.
"The matter has been listed to record the parties' consent on bench allocation," the CJI stated.
He explained that if the cases were to return to the original bench that had first examined them, three existing benches would need to be "broken," since the other two judges now sit in different combinations. Given the urgency, the court decided the present bench — CJI Kant with Justices Bagchi and Mohana — would hear the proceedings, with the next hearing date to be communicated subsequently.
Maintainability as the Threshold Question
On July 31 of the previous year, the bench had indicated it would first grapple with whether the review petitions were maintainable before turning to their merits. The ED had tabled three preliminary issues, largely concerning that very question of maintainability, while the review petitioners had put forward 13 questions for the court's consideration.
"Since the proposed issues are arising in the review proceedings, we propose to firstly hear the parties on the issue of maintainability of the review petitions, followed by the hearing on the questions proposed to be raised on behalf of the review petitioners," the bench had observed.
The court added that the ultimate set of questions to be decided would itself be shaped by the court, should it conclude the review pleas were maintainable.
"They are justified in raising first of all preliminary issues whether the review is maintainable. All of us are well aware that review has its own limitations.... Sometimes we can have a different viewpoint but still, we cannot substitute," Justice Kant remarked.
Government's Position on Scope
The Centre argued that the review hearings could not extend beyond the two narrow issues flagged by the bench that issued notices in August 2022. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta contended that those notices addressed only two aspects: the supply of an ECIR copy to the accused and the reversal of the burden of proof under Section 24 of the PMLA.
The 2022 Verdict in Context
In July 2022, the apex court had validated the ED's powers to arrest, attach properties linked to money laundering, and carry out search and seizure operations under the PMLA. Characterising money laundering as a "threat" to the sound functioning of financial systems worldwide, the court underscored that it is not an "ordinary offence."
The top court further held that authorities operating under the 2002 statute are "not police officers as such," and that an Enforcement Case Information Report cannot be equated with an FIR under the Code of Criminal Procedure. Supplying an ECIR copy in every instance to the person concerned, the court added, is not mandatory; it suffices that the ED discloses the grounds for arrest at the time of detention.
The original 2022 ruling emerged from a batch of more than 200 petitions challenging various provisions of the PMLA — a statute the opposition routinely accuses the government of wielding as a tool to harass political adversaries. The court had specifically upheld Section 45 of the Act, which designates offences as cognisable and non-bailable with twin conditions attached to bail, finding the provision reasonable and free from any vice of arbitrariness or unreasonableness.
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