New Delhi (India), March 6: The Supreme Court of India on Thursday adjourned the hearing of a plea challenging the constitutional validity of several provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). The matter was brought before a bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh, who noted that the issue should be listed before a three-judge bench.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the petitioners, informed the Court that the registry had not provided a fixed date for the matter. Solicitor General of India (SGI) Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju both requested the Court to consider scheduling the next hearing either in the last week of April or the first week of May this year.
The Court subsequently adjourned the matter and stated that it would notify the counsel regarding the new hearing date. This case involves a review plea filed by Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, who challenged the Supreme Court’s July 2022 judgment upholding various provisions of the PMLA.
The 2022 judgment in question had upheld the validity of provisions granting wide powers of investigation and arrest to the Directorate of Enforcement (ED). It ruled that ED inquiries differ from criminal investigations and thus, procedural requirements and safeguards under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) do not apply to ED investigations. The judgment also ruled that the ED is not required to provide a copy of the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) to the accused, calling it an internal document, unlike the First Information Report (FIR).
The Court also upheld stringent bail conditions under the PMLA, which require the accused to prove their innocence before being granted bail. In addition to Karti Chidambaram’s review plea, several other pleas challenging the 2022 judgment have been tagged along with this matter. The next hearing date will be notified by the Court in due course.
Advocate Shally Bhasin represented Karti Chidambaram in this case.