ED Powers : Supreme Court To Review It’s April 2022 Verdict In April Or First Week Of May

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Supreme Court has said it would in April decide if its 2022 verdict upholding the Enforcement Directorate’s powers to arrest and attach property under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act needs reconsideration.

As per PTI report, A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh said a three-judge bench was supposed to hear the matter and it was wrongly listed before it.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, agreed with the bench and asked it to post the hearing in April late or May first week.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioner, said the matter ought to be heard expeditiously by a three-judge bench.
Justice Surya Kant said he ordered listing the matter before a three-judge bench on the administrative side and wondered how it came before the two-judge bench.

“We will give you a specific date but this matter will not be heard before April end,” Justice Surya Kant said.

The top court was hearing a batch of pleas seeking reconsideration of the July 27, 2022, verdict of a three-judge bench on certain parameters.

On July 27, 2022, the top court upheld the ED’s powers of arrest and attachment of property involved in money laundering, search and seizure under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

In August 2022, the top court agreed to hear a plea seeking a review of its July 2022 verdict and observed that two aspects — not providing an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) and reversal of the presumption of innocence — prima facie required reconsideration.

Observing it was a common world over that money laundering was a “threat” to the good functioning of a financial system, the apex court upheld the validity of certain provisions of the PMLA, underlining it is not an “ordinary offence”.