Supreme Court to hear review plea challenging PMLA verdict tomorrow

The Supreme Court will on Thursday hear the review petition filed by Congress MP Karti Chidambaram challenging the order of a three-judge bench of the apex court that upheld the constitutional validity of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). A three-judge bench of the top court comprising CJI NV Ramana and Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and CT Ravikumar listed the matter for hearing on August 25 and also allowed an open court hearing of the petition.

CJI Ramana had admitted the plea seeking a review of the July 27 judgment on August 22 and agreed to list it.

On July 27, a three-judge bench led by Justice AM Khanwalikar and also comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and CT Ravikumar had upheld the constitutional validity of the PMLA and, under it, the powers granted to the ED to arrest, attach, search and seize.

Also Read: Supreme Court admits plea seeking review of earlier order in PMLA case

In its verdict, the bench had held that the PMLA provisions in question were justified for effectively tracing the crime and maintained that necessary constitutional safeguards were already in place.

In his petition, Chidambaram has argued that the law is violative of key fundamental rights, including Article 20 which provides protection arising out of convictions for offences and the Right to Life and Liberty under Article 21. Sections 3 (definition of money laundering), 18 (search of persons), 19 (powers of arrest), 24 (reverse burden of proof), 44 (offences triable by special court), 45 (offences being cognizable and non-bailable) were among the several provisions that were upheld by the SC.

Also Read: Supreme Court upholds constitutional validity of ED’s powers to arrest under PMLA

The July 27 judgment had come in for severe criticism from 17 Opposition parties who placed on record their apprehensions regarding the long-term impact of the verdict. “We place on record our deep apprehension on the long-term implications of the Supreme Court judgment upholding, in entirety, the amendments to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, without examining whether some of these amendments could have been enacted by way of Finance Act,” a joint statement issued by the parties read.

In its July 27 verdict, the top court left out the challenge to the amendments brought about to the PMLA by way of the Finance Act, hence bypassing Rajya Sabha scrutiny, while disposing of the 200-odd petitions filed against the various provisions of the PMLA.