New Delhi, Sep 26 A special bench of the Supreme Court will decide the review petitions filed against its 2022 judgment in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary judgment upholding the Enforcement Directorate's powers related to arrest, searches, seizures, and attachment of property, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
A 3-judge bench comprising Justices S.K. Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, and Bela M Trivedi will hear the review petition filed by Congress MP Karti Chidambaram along with other connected petitions from October 18.
In the case of Vijay Madanlal Choudhary & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors, a 3-judge bench had turned down challenge to vires of Section 50 of the PMLA giving power to the anti-money laundering agency to summon an accused and record a statement, which is admissible evidence in court of law.
The 2022 decision rendered by a bench headed by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar (now retired) affirmed the stringent provisions of PMLA in connection with definition of proceeds of crime, power of arrest, search & seizure, attachment of properties and also the twin bail conditions.
On August 25 last year, a bench headed by then CJI N.V. Ramana agreed to review its PMLA judgment for two main concerns -- non-providing of ECIR to accused at the time of arrest and negation of presumption of innocence.
In April this year, the Chhattisgarh government had also moved the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity PMLA, saying that the central investigation agencies are being misused by those in power in order to intimidate, harass and disturb the normal functioning of an opposition government in Chhattisgarh.
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