Justice AM Khanwilkar, who upheld wider powers of ED under PMLA, retires

New Delhi, July 29

Justice AM Khanwilkar, the second senior-most judge of the Supreme Court who headed the Bench which upheld wider powers of the Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, retired on Friday.

“As parting words, I will only say thank you to all for the love and affection. Thank you so much. God bless you,” Justice Khanwilkar said.

On his last working day, Justice Khanwilkar sat with Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and two other judges.

Describing Justice Khanwilkar as a “workaholic”, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Vikas Singh said the Bar felt that 65 is very young age for Supreme Court judges to retire. He suggested that the retirement age of top court judges should be 70 years.

In his virtual appearance, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said, “We will really miss Justice Khanwilkar. We will miss the smile on his face.”

Justice Khanwilkar, who was elevated to the top court on May 13, 2016, delivered several important judgments, including in the Aadhaar case and the one upholding SIT’s clean chit to then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and 63 others in the 2002 riots.

He also penned the verdict upholding the ED’s powers to arrest, attach property, search and seize under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and was part of several Constitution Benches of the apex court which delivered important judgments.

Born on July 30, 1957, in Pune, Justice Khanwilkar did LLB from a law college in Mumbai. He was enrolled as an advocate in February 1982 and later appointed an additional judge of the Bombay High Court on March 29, 2000. He was appointed the Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh on April 4, 2013, and later the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on November 24, 2013.