PMLA Judgment Review: Supreme Court Asks Sibal, Centre To Jointly Frame Issues
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to formulate and mutually circulate proposed issues in the batch of petitions seeking a review of its 2022 judgment that upheld the sweeping powers of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The Bench of Justice Surya Kant, Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, and Justice NK Singh took up the matter briefly around 3:30 PM due to administrative exigencies.
The hearing concerns a limited review of the 2022 verdict, for which the Court had earlier issued notice on two specific points.
Appearing for the petitioners, Sibal urged the Court to resolve the constitutional concerns raised and suggested that the matter be referred to a larger Bench. “These are fundamental- Constitutional issues,” Sibal argued, while handing over a draft note to the Bench.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing along with Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, opposed any broadening of the review’s scope, stating that the review was limited and that the petitioners’ draft “runs into four pages” and would effectively reopen the entire Act.
Justice Kant noted that several issues raised by Sibal were premised on the assumption that the Court would recall its earlier judgment. “Then the first question is—based on the framed issues, can the judgment be recalled? If we find reconsideration is needed, then we’ll proceed,” he observed.
Sibal cited Justice Oka’s earlier ruling holding that a copy of the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) must be provided to the accused and emphasized, “An affidavit of the Government of India cannot override a judgment of the Supreme Court.”
The Court directed the parties to circulate the proposed issues among themselves and scheduled the matter for formulation of issues on July 16 at 2:30 PM.
The final hearing will commence on August 6, 2025, and may continue on August 7, if required.
Previously
Recently, the Supreme Court reconstituted a three-judge bench to hear a batch of petitions seeking reconsideration of its 2022 verdict that upheld the wide-ranging powers of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). The reconstitution became necessary after the retirement of Justice C.T. Ravikumar, who was earlier part of the original bench alongside Justices Kant and Bhuyan.
In August 2022, Supreme Court had issued notice in the review petition on limited purview.
A Justice AM Khanwilkar led bench of the Supreme Court on July 27, 2022 upheld the constitutional validity of various provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The bench, also consisting of Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and CT Ravikumar however had held that the challenge to the passage of amendments to the Act in 2019 as a money bill will be considered by a larger bench.
Over 200 petitions were filed challenging the provisions of the Act. It was argued before the court that the powers of the Enforcement Directorate to arrest, force confessions, and seize property were unbridled.
In its 545-page judgment, the Court answered 12 questions of law formulated in the batch of petitions. A comprehensive look at the same can be found here.
Case Title: Karti P. Chidambaram v. The Directorate of Enforcement