
Supreme Court unlocks the right to access documents under PMLA
by C. George Thomas* and Ansh Mittal**
by C. George Thomas* and Ansh Mittal**
The case began with a search and seizure by the Enforcement Directorate under Section 37 of FEMA at the petitioners’ premises and during the operation, the petitioners allegedly confessed to illegal hawala transactions worth ₹3,500 crore routed abroad using fabricated documents to remit money to their companies in Hong Kong and Canada.
Justice Bela M. Trivedi, who was appointed as a Supreme Court Judge in 2021, became the first woman Judge from Gujarat High Court to be elevated to the Supreme Court and is a Limca Book of Records holder.
The Court also refused to issue a blanket direction restraining the registration of FIRs against him or mandating a preliminary inquiry in all future cases involving him, opining that such a direction would not only be contrary to the statutory framework of the CrPC but would also amount to judicial overreach.
It is the applicant’s case that he had undergone the aforesaid spinal surgery involving insertion of screws, at VNA Hospital, on 15-01-2025 and was admitted there till 20-01-2025, after which he continues to be in severe pain and has been advised bed rest for 6 weeks, as recently as on 17-02-2025.
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The Petitioner further contended that the second proviso to the Section 8(8) of PMLA, 2002, is in contravention with the settled law provided under the PMLA, 2002.
A quick legal roundup to cover important stories from all High Courts this week.
“Consideration of two conditions mentioned in Section 45 is mandatory, and while considering the bail application, the said rigours of Section 45 have to be reckoned by the court to uphold the objectives of the PMLA.”
A plain reading of Section 32A IBC reveals that once a resolution plan is approved under Section 31, the Corporate Debtor shall not be prosecuted for an offence committed prior to the commencement of the CIRP. However, this immunity does not extend to the erstwhile officers and persons responsible for the conduct of its business prior to CIRP.
Some clear and definite guidelines are required to be issued to the Courts of Magistrates and to the investigating agencies to follow the procedure of giving a remand report sufficiently in advance to the arrested accused before his first remand application is considered by the appropriate Court.
An entire syndicate with established network and properly defined roles exists and operates at different levels, which, when taken into consideration in entirety, clearly indicates that the proceeds of crime are more than Rs. 1 Crore.
EBC brings Advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai’s book on ‘Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002: A Practitioner’s Guide’.
“Though the Constitutional Courts are the sentinels of justice, however, this power of judicial review is required to be exercised with due care and caution and interference at the stage of investigation is made in rare and exceptional cases.”
A quick legal roundup to cover important stories from all High Courts this week.
Rajasthan High Court via the impugned order dated 11-11-2021 dismissed the appellant’s application for anticipatory bail opining that the appellant was allegedly involved in serious economic offence.
The bail application of the Founder-Chairman has been denied for the fourth time. Earlier, his bail was denied twice by the Court and once by the Supreme Court.
The Court questioned the authorities as to why the initial FIR was lodged only against the former Secretary and the recovery proceedings were referred to the joint secretary who had no authority.
“When an accused is in custody under PMLA irrespective of the case for which he is under custody, any statement under section 50 of PMLA to the same investigating agency is inadmissible against the maker.”