Centre draws SC ire over move to deny bail pleas in PMLA case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday rebuked the Union government and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), condemning their "consistent efforts" to deny bail and prolong incarceration under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) "by hook or by crook".

- Utkarsh Anand

NEW DELHI:

A bench of justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan termed such an approach "unacceptable" and underscored that the Union's submissions in court, which went beyond statutory provisions, were contrary to fair legal principles.

"The consistent attempt before us is that by hook or crook, bail should be denied... This is unfair. The only endeavor is to see that anyone who is arrested under PMLA must remain behind bars forever," the bench told solicitor general Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Centre and ED in the matter.

The strong remarks came in the aftermath of a previous contention made by another law officer of the government on December 18 last year, suggesting that even women and minors would not qualify for relaxed bail conditions under PMLA.

"It is completely unfair on the part of the government's law officer to make submissions contrary to the law. If those appearing for the Union feel that the judges do not understand even the basic provisions of the law, how do we conduct the proceedings? We will not tolerate the counsel for the Union of India to make such arguments...some signal has to go from this court," the court told SG Mehta.