The Supreme Court of India has established a three-judge bench to review petitions challenging its July 27, 2022, verdict that upheld the constitutionality of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. Justice S K Kaul, while presiding over a two-judge bench hearing an Enforcement Directorate case related to the Delhi excise policy, announced the formation of this bench. Among the judges on this three-judge panel are Justices Sanjeev Khanna and Bela M Trivedi. The bench is scheduled to commence hearings on October 18.
In November 2017, a bench led by Justice Kaul and Justice (retired) R F Nariman had declared section 45(1) of the PMLA unconstitutional, specifically regarding its additional bail conditions, asserting that they violated Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. However, this decision was overturned by a three-judge bench in the July 27 judgment of the case Vijay Madanlal Choudhary vs. Union of India. This ruling upheld the two conditions for bail outlined in Section 45 of the Act. According to this provision, if the public prosecutor opposes an accused person’s bail application, the court can grant bail only if it is convinced that there are reasonable grounds to believe the accused is not guilty of the alleged offense and is unlikely to commit any further offenses if released on bail.
In a comprehensive judgment that considered 242 petitions challenging various aspects of the PMLA, including Section 3, which defines money laundering, the three judges upheld the PMLA law in its amended form, including provisions related to the Enforcement Directorate’s powers regarding arrests. The court emphasized that while the presumption of innocence is a fundamental human right, it can be overridden by laws enacted by the Parliament or Legislature.
By FCCT Editorial Team
, an independent military force, and allied militias in Sudan raped several dozen women and girls in West Darfur’s capital, El Geneina, and those fleeing to Chad between late April and late June 2023, Human Rights Watch said today. The assailants appear to have targeted people because of their Massalit ethnicity and, in some cases, because they were known activists.){kind=link}