While hearing the case related to the alleged liquor scam of Chhattisgarh, the Supreme Court has expressed concern over the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering) law. Questioning the action of ED, SC said that just like the dowry harassment law (498A) was misused, the same is now happening in PMLA. The court has made this harsh comment while deciding the bail plea of former IAS officer Arunpati Tripathi, who is involved in the money laundering case related to the liquor scam of Chhattisgarh.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard the bail plea of the accused in the money laundering case related to the alleged liquor scam in Chhattisgarh. Granting bail to former IAS officer AP Tripathi, a bench headed by Justice Abhay Oka said that the Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cannot be used to keep someone in jail forever.
The bench said that just as the Dowry Harassment Act (498A) has been misused in the past, similarly the PMLA law is also being misused now. The Supreme Court also questioned that when the Chhattisgarh High Court had cancelled the decision of the Sessions Court to take cognizance in this case, then there is no justification for keeping AP Tripathi in jail.
tell you that under the Money Laundering Act (PMLA), bail of the accbecomesdifficult.’TwinCondition’isaplicablein PMLA Act. This means that the accused cannot be granted bail until it is proved that he has not committed the crime and he will not be involved in any further crime.
However, now the Supreme Court has questioned the functioning of ED in this case. The court said that PMLA is being used for political and administrative purposes, which is not right for the judicial process. The Supreme Court also made it clear that no accused can be kept in jail indefinitely by resorting to legal processes only.
