If the arrest of the accused is not valid and lawful, the remand order shall fail: SC in Money Laundering Case
Last Updated on October 5, 2023 by News Desk
It was observed by the SC that any court that is remanding an arrest under section 167 C.R.P.C where the arrest has been made by the enforcement directorate, has the foremost duty of verification as well as ensuring that the arrest is valid as per the requirements given under section 19 of the prevention of money laundering act, 2002.
The court said that in any case if the court has failed to discharge such responsibility, the order of remand would fail on this ground itself.
Under section 19, safeguards have been provided as, recording the reasons in writing.
The court said that in the case of V. Senthil Balaji vs. The State represented by Deputy Director and others 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 611, the ED officer is bounded by the duty to record the reasons for their belief that a person is guilty and there was a need to arrest him.
The court said all this while deciding the arrests of directors of a Gurugram-based realty group, in a money laundering case as illegal.
The court noted that the judge concerned had not even recorded the findings that he had perused the grounds of arrest.
It also added that the ED has a mandatory duty to furnish the grounds on which the arrest has been made by them.
Case Title: Pankaj Bansal v. Union of India SLP(Crl) No. 9220-9221/2023, Basant Bansal v. Union of India SLP(Crl) No. 9275-9276/2023 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 844
Written By: Shianjany Pradhan (@SHIANJANYPRADHAN)
