The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2022, is a sui generis (unique) statute which enables the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to arrest a person only after being in possession of materials to believe him/her to be “guilty of an offence” under the law. Hence, the ED cannot be treated as an investigating agency empowered to unearth the truth through custodial interrogation, senior counsel Kapil Sibal argued before the Madras High Court on Tuesday.
Appearing before Justice C.V. Karthikeyan, the third judge named by Chief Justice S.V. Gangapurwala following the July 4 split verdict delivered by Justices J. Nisha Banu and D. Bharatha Chakravarthy on a habeas corpus petition filed by arrested Minister V. Senthilbalaji’s wife Megala, Mr. Sibal said the Supreme Court itself had categorically ruled that ED officials were not police officers and therefore they have no power of investigation.
When Justice Karthikeyan wanted to know how else could the ED officials go about finding out other details related to money laundering after arresting the accused, the senior counsel said it could be done only by way of an inquiry and not investigation in exercise of the powers conferred on the ED officials under Section 50 of the Act to summon any person, compel production of records, receive evidence on affidavits and examining witnesses and documents.
