THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
New Delhi, July 15: The Supreme Court has scheduled July 31 to hear a series of review petitions challenging its 2022 ruling that upheld the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) wide-ranging powers under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), including arrest, search, seizure, and property attachment.
The matter was initially listed for Wednesday but was deferred after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court of his unavailability. A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi adjourned the hearing, with senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the petitioners, expressing no objection to the new date.
Focus on ECIR and Burden of Proof
At the heart of the petitions are two contentious aspects of the original verdict: whether a copy of the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) must be provided to the accused and the burden of proof under Section 24 of the PMLA, which places the onus on the accused to prove their innocence.
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These two points were flagged by the bench in August 2022 as requiring further examination, prompting the court to issue notice and agree to consider review petitions on a limited basis.
While Sibal has argued for referring the matter to a larger bench, the Centre has maintained that the review should be confined strictly to the two issues already identified by the court. Mehta has reiterated that the earlier bench had issued notice only on the ECIR and the reversal of the burden of proof, and that no broader reconsideration was warranted.
Key Findings of the 2022 Verdict
The July 2022 judgment had affirmed the constitutional validity of several PMLA provisions, noting that money laundering poses a global threat to financial systems and should not be treated as a routine offence.
The ruling had emphasized that ED officers are not akin to traditional police personnel, and thus the ECIR does not carry the same status as an FIR under the Code of Criminal Procedure. It further held that furnishing a copy of the ECIR in every case is not obligatory as long as the grounds of arrest are conveyed to the accused.
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Political and Legal Implications
That judgment came in response to more than 200 petitions that questioned the legality of various PMLA provisions—many of which, critics argue, are used by the government to target political opponents.
One of the key provisions upheld was Section 45, which classifies offences under the Act as cognisable and non-bailable, and imposes strict bail conditions. The court ruled that this section is constitutionally sound and does not violate principles of fairness or reasonableness.
The upcoming hearing will revisit some of the core principles of the PMLA framework, potentially reshaping the legal standards surrounding financial crime investigations in India.
