New Delhi : The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea by Centre seeking review of its judgment, which held that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) must furnish written grounds of arrest to persons arrested in money laundering cases.
A bench comprising justices A S Bopanna and Sanjay Kumar, in order passed on March 20, which was uploaded today, rejected the Centre’s contention for oral hearing in the matter. “We have carefully gone through the review petitions and the connected papers. We do not find any error, much less apparent, in the order impugned, warranting its reconsideration. The review petitions are dismissed accordingly. Pending application, if any, stands disposed of”, said the bench, in its order.
In October 2023, the Supreme Court had said that Enforcement Directorate (ED) should maintain stringent standards of probity and not be vindictive in its functioning, while granting bail to Basant Bansal and Pankaj Bansal, directors of Gurugram-based realty group M3M, in a money laundering case.
The Bansals’ had moved the apex court challenging the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which dismissed their bail pleas, saying the case is quite serious in nature.
A bench comprising justices AS Bopanna and Sanjay Kumar said it speaks volumes about the ED and reflects poorly on their style of functioning, especially since the agency is charged with preserving the financial security of the country. The apex court noted that the two directors were summoned on June 14 for questioning in an alleged money laundering case, however they were arrested in another case registered by the ED on the same day. The bench said clandestine conduct of ED in proceeding against the accused reeks of arbitrariness.
The apex court, directing immediate release of Bansals’, took serious exception to the ED officer orally reading out the grounds of arrest to the accused without supplying them with a written copy of the grounds for their arrest. The apex court observed the lack of any consistent or uniform practice followed by ED for supply of grounds of arrest to the accused.
The apex court had reserved the verdict on September 11, 2023, after hearing submissions of lawyers. The Bansals’ challenged their arrest under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and questioned the high court order which declined to set aside their arrest. The apex court stressed that the ED has to be transparent, above board and conform to pristine standards of fairness and probity and not be vindictive in its stand.
The apex court also noted that it will be necessary for a copy of grounds of arrest to be furnished to the accused at the time of arrest.
The bench said ED’s investigating officer merely read out the grounds of arrest, which does not fulfil the mandate of Article 22(1) of Constitution and Section 19(1) of the PMLA.
