Supreme Court rejects govt’s plea against Enforcement Directorate furnishing grounds for detention

Tribune News Service

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, March 23

The Supreme Court has dismissed the Centre’s petition seeking review of its verdict that said it’s necessary for the Enforcement Directorate to furnish a copy of grounds of arrest to the arrested person in writing “without exception”.

Calls for fair play

• The SC had in Oct 2023 indicted the ED for arbitrary exercise of powers under PMLA
• It said ED must act in transparent, non-vindictive manner
• Must conform to pristine standards of fair play in its actions
• Cited Constitution to say anyone arrested must be informed of the grounds for such arrest

“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,” a Bench of Justice AS Bopanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said in its March 20 order.

Indicting the Enforcement Directorate for arbitrary exercise of powers conferred on it under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, the Supreme Court had on October 3, 2023, said that the probe agency must act in a transparent and non-vindictive manner, conforming to pristine standards of fair play in its actions. “The clandestine conduct of the ED in proceeding against the appellants (Bansals), by recording the second ECIR immediately after they secured interim protection in relation to the first ECIR, does not commend acceptance as it reeks of arbitrary exercise of power,” the top court had said.

Citing Article 22(1) of the Constitution which provides that no person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed, as soon as may be, of the grounds for such arrest, it had noted, “This being the fundamental right guaranteed to the arrested person, the mode of conveying information of the grounds of arrest must necessarily be meaningful so as to serve the intended purpose.”

The Centre had sought a review of the October 3, 2023, verdict by which it had granted bail to Gurugram-based realty group M3M’s directors Basant Bansal and Pankaj Bansal in a money laundering case probed by the ED. Writing the judgment for the Bench, Justice Kumar had said, “The ED, mantled with far-reaching powers under the stringent (Prevention of Money Laundering) Act of 2002, is not expected to be v indictive in its conduct and must be seen to be acting with utmost probity and with the highest degree of dispassion and fairness.”

Indicting the probe agency for suppression of certain facts before the Delhi High Court, the top court had said it demonstrated “complete lack of probity on the part of the ED”. It had said, “Mere non-cooperation of a witness in response to the summons issued under Section 50 of the Act of 2002 would not be enough to render him/her liable to be arrested under Section 19 (of PMLA).”

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