A bench held the liberty of an individual is always the rule and deprivation of the same by procedure established by law, is the exception.
Published Aug 28, 2024 | 1:35 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 28, 2024 | 1:35 PM
Supreme Court (iStock)
The Supreme Court on Wednesday, 28 August, said when an accused is in custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), any incriminating statement or confession given to the investigation officers is inadmissible in evidence.
The apex court was hearing a bail petition filed by one Prem Prakash, an alleged aide of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, in a money laundering case arising out of an alleged forgery offence.
A Bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan held that the liberty of an individual is always the rule and deprivation of the same by procedure established by law, is the exception.
The bench stressed upon its ruling while granting bail to former Delhi minister Manish Sisodia in the alleged Liquor Policy scam and said: “Relying on the judgment in Manish Sisodia, we have said that even in PMLA, bail is a rule and jail the exception.”
“All that Section 45 specifies is the conditions to be met for bail. Liberty of the individual is always the rule and deprivation, by the procedure established by law, the exception. The twin test does not take away this principle,” the court said, reported Bar and Bench.
It said Section 25 of the Evidence Act (confessions being inadmissible) will apply on a case-to-case basis in PMLA.
“We hold statements of the appellant if found to be incriminating will be hit by Section 25. It would be a travesty to make the statement admissible merely because he was then under custody for another ECIR. It will extremely unfair to make such statements admissible as it will be against all canons of justice,” the court stated.
The court held that the appellant is not prima facie guilty of the offences and is unlikely to tamper with evidence. Hence, it found that it was a fit case for bail.
Subsequently, the court granted bail to Prakash subject to furnishing bail bond of ₹5 lakh and subject to other conditions to be set by trial court.
BRS MLC K Kavitha, who was granted bail on Tuesday, was arrested on 11 April based on the statements of other accused in the alleged Delhi Excise Police scam and WhatsApp chats recovered from co-accused Butchibabu’s phone — who later turned an approver.
The court during the hearing of her bail petition questioned the central agencies’— CBI and ED— fairness in the investigation, criticising their selective approach in treating some accused as approvers
The ED arrested Sisodia on 26 February and invoked Section 19 of the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act), which allows it to arrest people involved or accused in the case if the investigation officer has “reasons to believe” that the person is “guilty” of money laundering.
The CBI, during its custody of Sisodia, had confronted him with the statements of his former secretary C Arvind and then excise commissioner Arava Gopi Krishna in connection with alleged manipulation of the excise policy.
The ED arrested Ongole MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy’s son Magunta Raghava Reddy on 11 February, 2023 in connection with the Delhi liquor scam.
Sources said Raghava was arrested based on information provided by two other persons — businessman Gautam Malhotra from Punjab and Rajesh Joshi, an aide of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) communication head Vijay Nair.
Later, he turned an approver in the case.
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