SC agrees to hear review pleas against 2022 verdict upholding ED powers under PMLA

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a batch of review petitions challenging its 2022 judgment that upheld the Enforcement Directorate's powers to arrest accused persons, attach properties linked to money laundering and conduct search and seizure under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana took note of submissions by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, that notices on the review petitions had been issued in August 2022 and that the pleas should now be taken up for hearing.

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"The matter has been listed to record the parties' consent on bench allocation," the CJI said.

The bench noted that if the review petitions were to be heard by the judges who had dealt with them earlier, three existing benches would have to be "broken", as the other two judges are now sitting in different combinations.

Given the urgency, the bench comprising the CJI and Justices Bagchi and Mohana will hear the matter, the court said. The next date of hearing will be notified later.

The Supreme Court had on July 31 last year said it would first examine whether the review petitions were maintainable before considering the substantive issues raised by the petitioners.

The bench had noted that the ED had identified three preliminary issues concerning maintainability, while the review petitioners had proposed 13 questions for consideration.

"Since the proposed issues are arising in the review proceedings, we propose to firstly hear the parties on the issue of maintainability of the review petitions, followed by the hearing on the questions proposed to be raised on behalf of the review petitioners," the bench had said.

It had further said that the final questions for consideration would be determined only if the court found that the review petitions were maintainable.

"They are justified in raising first of all preliminary issues -- whether the review is maintainable. All of us are well aware that review has its own limitations.... Sometimes we can have a different viewpoint but still, we cannot substitute," Justice Kant had observed.

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Centre opposes wider review

The Centre has argued that the review proceedings cannot go beyond the two specific issues on which the Supreme Court had issued notices in August 2022.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had said the bench that considered the review petitions for admission had issued notices only on two aspects: whether an accused is entitled to a copy of the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), and the reversal of the burden of proof under Section 24 of the PMLA.

The review pleas arise from the Supreme Court's July 2022 judgment, which upheld key provisions of the anti-money laundering law and the ED's powers under it.

The court had described money laundering as a "threat" to the proper functioning of financial systems worldwide and held that it was not an "ordinary offence".

The court had also held that authorities under the PMLA are "not police officers as such" and that an ECIR cannot be equated with an FIR under the Code of Criminal Procedure.

It had ruled that providing a copy of the ECIR to an accused in every case was not mandatory, provided the ED disclosed the grounds of arrest at the time of arrest.

The 2022 judgment was delivered on a batch of more than 200 petitions challenging various provisions of the PMLA. Opposition parties have frequently alleged that the law and its enforcement have been used by the government to target political opponents.

The Supreme Court had also upheld Section 45 of the PMLA, which makes certain offences cognisable and non-bailable and imposes twin conditions for bail, holding that the provision was reasonable and did not suffer from arbitrariness or unreasonableness.