[PMLA] Order For Confiscating Property Is Not Interlocutory Since It Determines Interim Custody, Can Be Challenged In Revision Plea: P&H HC

The Punjab & Haryana High Court has made it clear that an order for confiscation of property passed by the trial court can be challenged in a revision plea before the High Court.In the present case, the property mortgaged in a Bank in lieu of credit facilities availed by an accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), was confiscated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The Court rejected the objection raised by the ED that the plea challenging the confiscation order...

Freedom From Illegal Arrest & Prolonged Pre-Trial Custody : Supreme Court's Recent Pro-Liberty Judgments Rein In PMLA, UAPA

Although the Supreme Court has been an avid advocate and upholder of an individual's right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution, some of its decisions in the past few years ended up garnering public attention as being opposed to the well-settled "bail is the rule, jail an exception" jurisprudence.From outright denial of bail in some cases, to delays in hearing and listing of others, the court's manner of functioning attracted criticism from various fields. This...

No Assertion In ED Complaint That Scheduled Offences Generated Proceeds Of Crime : Supreme Court Grants Bail In PMLA Case

The Supreme Court recently granted bail in a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after noting that the prosecution complaint did not have any assertion that the scheduled offence generated proceeds of crime directly or indirectly..“Prima facie, there must be factual assertions in the complaints to show that the offences which are named as scheduled offences on the basis of which complaints are filed, directly or indirectly, generated proceeds of crime”, the Court held.The...

Senthil Balaji's Bail Plea : Supreme Court Seeks Clarification From ED On Predicate Offences

The Supreme Court today (August 14) sought clarification from the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on whether it intends to rely on all three predicate offences in the money laundering case against Senthil Balaji or exclude one of the cases that involves more than a thousand accused.The predicate offences are registered against Balaji under section 420 (cheating) and other relevant sections of the IPC as well as sections 7 (public servant taking bribe), 12 (abetment) and 13 (misconduct of public...

Supreme Court Reserves Verdict On Bail Plea Of Senthil Balaji In Money Laundering Case, Flags Delay In Trial

The Supreme Court on Monday (August 12) reserved its judgment on the bail plea of former Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji in a money laundering case arising out of the cash for jobs allegations.The MLA and former Minister was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in June last year in the cash-for-jobs money laundering case. He has challenged a Madras High Court order denying him bail. A bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih reserved its judgment after...

Madras High Court Dismisses TN Minister Anitha Radhakrishnan's Plea Challenging PMLA Proceedings By ED

The Madras High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition filed by the Tamil Nadu Fisheries Minister challenging the PMLA proceedings initiated by the Enforcement Proceedings against him. Justice SM Subramaniam and Justice V Sivagnanam dismissed Radhakrishnan's plea and asked him to cooperate with the investigating agency to complete the probe in the money laundering case and allow it to file a final report before the special court.Copy of detailed judgment is awaited. The allegation...

'Out Of 5000 PMLA Cases, Only 40 Convictions In 10 Years' : Supreme Court Says ED Must Focus On Quality Prosecution

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (August 7) highlighted the low rate of conviction in money laundering cases and underscored that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) should focus on the quality of prosecution.A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and Ujjal Bhuyan was hearing a bail petition of Chhattisgarh-based businessman Sunil Kumar Agarwal, who was arrested for the offence of money laundering in relation to coal transportation.Citing the poor conviction statistics in cases under the...

PMLA : Supreme Court To Hear Review Petitions Against Vijay Madanlal Choudhary Judgment On August 28

The Supreme Court today posted to August 28 the batch of petitions seeking review of the 2022 judgment in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary v. Union of India (VMC).A special bench of Justices Surya Kant, CT Ravikumar and Ujjal Bhuyan heard arguments briefly, but agreed to adjourn the matter at the request of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who submitted that the matter was listed suddenly (post 9 pm yesterday) and therefore, ED may be given some time to prepare and argue.Initially, the bench...

Senthil Balaji's Bail Plea | Can Trial In PMLA Case Proceed Without Trial In Predicate Offence? Supreme Court Asks

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (August 6) while hearing former Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji's bail plea asked whether the trial under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) could proceed without the trial of the predicate offence.The MLA and former Minister was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in June last year in a cash-for-jobs money laundering case. He has challenged a Madras High Court order denying him bail in a money laundering case over the cash-for-jobs...

'Some Incongruency' In ED's Stance That Manish Sisodia Delayed Trial, Says Supreme Court; Reserves Judgment On Bail Plea

The Supreme Court today reserved verdict on the petitions filed by former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia seeking bail in the liquor policy case.A bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan heard the pleas and reserved orders upon hearing Senior Advocate Dr AM Singhvi (for Sisodia) and Additional Solicitor General SV Raju (for respondent-authorities).During the hearing, the bench flagged an apparent incongruency between ED's stances, as on one hand, it claimed that...

Senthil Balaji's Bail Plea | Cash Deposits Of Rs. 1.34 Crores Not From MLA Salary & Agricultural Income: ED To Supreme Court

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Monday (August 5) submitted before the Supreme Court that the cash deposit of Rs. 1.34 Crores in the bank account of former Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji have no connection with his salary as MLA or his agricultural income.“His case was that out of this 1.34 Crores, 68 lakhs is my salary as an MLA. It is completely incorrect as he is receiving salary directly as RTGS in his bank account so this 68 lakhs has absolutely no nexus with salary. There is no...

Bail U/S 45(1) PMLA Can Be Given To Sick Or Infirm: Kerala High Court Grants Interim Bail To Former KPCC General Secretary

The Kerala High Court has granted bail to K. K. Abraham, former general secretary of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC). Justice C. S. Dias passed the order after considering the health issues of the accused. The Court has not passed any final orders on the bail application.Mr. Abraham was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a case of co-operative bank fraud and was in custody since 07/11/2023. He was the former president of Pulpally Service Co-operative Bank, Wayanad....