The Supreme Court on October 17 reserved its judgment on pleas for regular bail filed by former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who is facing money laundering charges in the liquor policy scam case.
A Bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna asked how an offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) would be made out in the absence of a bribery charge against Mr. Sisodia, who is represented by senior advocate A.M. Singhvi.
“If the charge of a bribe is not part of the predicate offence, it may be difficult for you to prove a case under the PMLA. If you had said that the bribe of ₹ 2.2 crore was paid for tweaking the policy, yes. But you cannot create a predicate offence in your PMLA case. We cannot go on an assumption,” Justice Khanna addressed Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, who appeared for the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
