PMLA bail provision unconstitutional: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down as unconstitutional bail provisions in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act as they are harsh and violative to right to life and liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.

The twin conditions for grant of bail under Section 45 of the PMLA are that the public prosecutor must be given an opportunity to oppose any application for release on bail and the court must be satisfied, that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of such offence, and second that he/she is not likely to commit any offence if released on bail.

Striking down the provisions, a bench of justices Rohinton Nariman and Sanjay Kishan Kaul said, “Obviously, the twin conditions laid down in Section 45 would have no nexus whatsoever with a bail application which concerns itself with the offence of money laundering.”

The bench gave this ruling on a batch of petitions filed by Nikesh Tarachand Shah and others challenging the validity of these provisions as arbitrary, unjust and discriminatory. It said that Section 45 is a drastic provision, which turns on its head the presumption of innocence, which is fundamental to a person, accused of any offence.

Writing the judgment, justice Nariman noted that in the absence of any such compelling state interest, the indiscriminate application of the provisions of Section 45 would certainly violate Article 21 of the Constitution.