"5,000 Laundering Cases, 40 Convictions": Probe Agency Gets Supreme Court's Rap

Making stinging observations about the Enforcement Directorate while hearing a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) matter, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said there had been only 40 convictions in 5,000 such cases and asked the agency to gather scientific evidence rather than relying only on the statements of witnesses. 

In May, the Supreme Court had granted interim bail to Sunil Kumar Aggarwal, a Chattisgarh businessman who was arrested under the stringent money laundering Act in connection with a case of alleged illegal levy on coal transportation. Hearing a special leave petition on Wednesday, a Bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and Dipankar Datta asked the Enforcement Directorate whether the businessman's arrest under the Act was sustainable. 

Justice Surya Kant, who headed the bench, said, "You (ED) need to look at the quality of prosecution. These are serious allegations which are disrupting the economy of this country. Here you are insisting on statements made by some individuals. What will happen with such oral evidence? God knows whether they stick to it or not tomorrow. There must be some scientific evidence."

Pointing to the rate of conviction, Justice Bhuyan said, "In 5,000 cases registered (under PMLA), 40 have resulted in conviction. Now you can imagine."

Bringing up a section of the Act which allows the ED to arrest an individual on the basis of material in its possession and with reason to believe that the person is guilty, Justice Dutta asked, "Is this arrest order under Section 19 sustainable? You cannot say that the burden of proving is on the accused when you yourself cannot prove that he is guilty. Do not put the cart before the horse." 

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing on behalf of the accused, said that the petition is being opposed only for the sake of doing so. 

In its order, the court disposed of the special leave petition and said Mr Aggarwal had made a case for granting bail subject to the furnishing of bonds. 

Judges Also On Review Bench

The judges' observations become especially important given that Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan are part of a special bench hearing review petitions on the Supreme Court's 2022 verdict upholding several provisions of the PMLA, including the power of arrest and attachment as well as Section 45 of the Act, which provides 'twin conditions' for bail.

The bench, which also comprises Justice CT Ravikumar, was scheduled to hear the petitions on Wednesday but adjourned the matter to August 28 at the request of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who said the matter was listed after 9 pm on Tuesday and sought some time to prepare and argue. 

On Tuesday, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai had submitted a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha and said that more than 5,200 money laundering cases had been registered by the ED since 2014 and convictions were obtained in 40 while there had been acquittals in three.