Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002

The Enforcement Directorate registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PML Act) against Padmanabhan Kishore for allegedly handing over Rs 50 lakh as a bribe to an Additional Commissioner of Income Tax. Kishore contended that the money remained "untainted" while in his possession and only beca…

Manish Sisodia, former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, appealed to the Supreme Court seeking bail in prosecutions under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, the Indian Penal Code and an enforcement case under the Prevention of Money‑Laundering Act, 2002. The Court examined the scope of bail under s.45 of the PMLA, h…

The Union of India appealed against the Bombay High Court's order granting bail to Hassan Ali Khan, who was accused under Section 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for handling billions of dollars allegedly derived from criminal activity and for obtaining multiple passports fraudulently. The Supreme Co…

Pareena Swarup filed a public interest writ under Article 32 challenging sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 and its 2007 appointment rules, alleging that the selection of members and chairpersons of the Adjudicating Authorities and Appellate Tribunal by a committee headed by the Revenue Secretary …

The petitioners, including acid‑attack survivors with facial disfigurements and a blind individual, challenged the mandatory digital KYC/e‑KYC/video‑KYC procedures for being inaccessible and discriminatory. They argued that requirements such as capturing a live photograph and performing a liveness check (e.g., eye‑blin…

The Directorate of Enforcement filed a complaint under the PMLA alleging that Pavana Dibbur conspired with accused Madhukar Angur to launder proceeds of a fraud at Alliance University by using nominal sale deeds and her bank accounts. The appellant challenged the complaint, arguing that the only predicate offence in th…

The case concerned a multi‑crore iron‑ore mining lease scam involving former ministers of Jharkhand, including a former chief minister, with allegations of illicit wealth amassed through abuse of official position. The High Court, noting the complexity and trans‑national nature of the alleged investments, referred the …

The appellant Prem Prakash was in judicial custody for a separate ECIR (No. 4 of 2022) when the Enforcement Directorate recorded statements from him under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for a new ECIR (No. 5 of 2023). The High Court had denied his bail, relying on those statements, but the …

The appellant, Mohd Muslim, was arrested in 2015 in connection with a seizure of 180 kg of ganja and charged under Sections 20, 25 and 29 of the NDPS Act. The prosecution relied on statements of co‑accused, the appellant’s confessional statement and bank‑transaction records, but failed to produce any direct evidence li…

Kalvakuntla Kavitha, a former Member of Parliament and Legislative Council, was charged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 in CBI and Enforcement Directorate investigations relating to a Delhi excise policy conspiracy. She applied for bail, invoking the special treatment granted to women under the provi…

The Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of most provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), including the definition of money-laundering, attachment of property, search and seizure, arrest, bail conditions, and burden of proof. The Court interpreted Section 3 to have a wider reach, c…

The Supreme Court examined whether the day on which a magistrate orders remand under Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 should be counted in the 60/90‑day period prescribed for filing a charge‑sheet, the expiry of which gives an accused an indefeasible right to default bail. Relying on the earlier d…

The petitioners challenged the constitutional validity of the amendments to the Customs Act, 1962 and the arrest provisions in the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, arguing that offences under these statutes remain non‑cognizable and that authorized officers must obtain a magistrate's warrant, relying on the Om…

The former Tamil Nadu Transport Minister V. Senthil Balaji was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for alleged involvement in a large‑scale job‑racketeering scheme, with the Enforcement Directorate filing a complaint under Section 3 of the PMLA punishable under Section 4. The High Court rejecte…

Jagdish Narain Shukla filed a writ petition under Article 226 seeking the implementation of a Lokayukta report that alleged corruption by former minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui and former MLC Husna Siddiqui, claiming they had purchased assets at undervalued prices using income from unknown sources. The Lokayukta, under S…

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) appealed against a Telangana High Court order that granted anticipatory bail to M. Gopal Reddy (respondent No.1) under Section 438 of the CrPC in connection with a money‑laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). The Supreme Court examined whether the …

The Supreme Court examined the constitutional validity of Section 45(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, which imposes two additional conditions for granting bail when the offence involves a scheduled offence punishable with imprisonment of more than three years under Part A of the Schedule. The Court h…

The appellant was granted regular bail by a Special Court on 17 June 2023 in a PMLA case, after which the Enforcement Directorate sought cancellation of bail under Section 439(2) of the CrPC. The Delhi High Court, without hearing the appellant’s counsel, issued an ex‑parte interim stay of the bail order on 23 June 2023…

The Enforcement Directorate appealed a Bombay High Court order that granted default bail to respondents arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The crux of the dispute was whether the day of remand should be counted when calculating the 60‑day (or 90‑day) period prescribed under Section 167(2)(a)(i…

The appellant, M/s C.L. Gupta Export Ltd., was found by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to have violated environmental laws, leading the Tribunal to impose a Rs.50 crore compensation and direct the Enforcement Directorate to pursue action under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The appellant contended th…

The petitioners, Anoop Bartaria and World Trade Park Ltd., challenged an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) and a prosecution complaint filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), arguing that they lacked knowledge that the funds they received were proceeds of crime and that such knowledge …

The Enforcement Directorate detained Subhash Sharma under a Look Out Circular at IGI Airport on 4 March 2022 and later took him into physical custody on 5 March 2022, but failed to produce him before the nearest magistrate within the statutory 24‑hour period. The High Court held that this breach of Article 22(2) of the…

The appellant, a Vice President of Purchases at Shakti Bhog Foods Ltd., was arrested under the fourth supplementary complaint filed under Sections 44 and 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) for alleged money‑laundering offences linked to a bank fraud investigated under the Prevention of Corruption…

The appellant, a chartered accountant, was arrested in September 2022 after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed an information report and a prosecution complaint under the Prevention of Money‑Laundering Act (PMLA) alleging his involvement in a fraudulent Global Depository Receipt (GDR) scheme that misappropriated fu…

The appellant, Parvinder Singh, was subject to an ECIR and arrested, after which the Enforcement Directorate filed a prosecution complaint under the PMLA on 24 June 2024. The Special Court took cognizance of the offence on 2 July 2024, after the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) had come into force, without giv…

The petitioners challenged Sections 3, 4, and 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Act, 2020, which introduced threshold requirements for allottees and certain financial creditors to initiate corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP), clarified that a corporate debtor can initiate CIRP against anot…

The Supreme Court examined bail applications of Satyendar Kumar Jain, a former Delhi minister, and his associates Vaibhav and Ankush Jain, who were charged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for allegedly using shell companies to launder approximately Rs 4.81 crore through accommodation entries. The Co…

Dr. Lakshman entered into agreements with several respondents to procure 70 acres of land for a payment of Rs 9 crore. The respondents allegedly sold the land before the agreement, issued cheques that later bounced, and forced the appellant to sign sale deeds, leading to complaints under the IPC for cheating, fraud and…

Gautam Kundu, chairman of Rose Valley, was arrested for alleged money‑laundering offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) and related violations of the SEBI Act. He sought bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, but the Calcutta High Court rejected the application, holding th…

The appellants were accused under complaints filed under section 44(1)(b) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 and the Special Court took cognizance of the offence under section 4 of the Act without the Enforcement Directorate having arrested them. The Court examined whether the procedural provisions of the …

The Supreme Court examined a large jobs‑for‑cash scam in Tamil Nadu where public servants allegedly accepted bribes for appointments, triggering investigations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The Court held that the bribe money itself constitutes "pr…

The appellant, a former collector, was charged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) for alleged financial transactions involving proceeds of crime arising from land allotments, bribery and hawala. He sought discharge at the pre‑trial stage, arguing that the PMLA could not be applied retrospectively…

Ram Kishor Arora, founder of Supertech Ltd, was arrested by the Directorate of Enforcement on 27 June 2023 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). He challenged the arrest, alleging that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) failed to furnish him a copy of the grounds of arrest at the time of arrest, viol…

The appellant was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on 3 October 2023 without the arrest memo containing the specific grounds of arrest, only generic reasons. He was presented before a Remand Judge on 4 October 2023 and remanded to police custody, but the copy of the remand application and …

The appellant, Saumya Chaurasia, a Deputy Secretary in the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister’s Office, was arrested in connection with an extortion‑linked money‑laundering case investigated by the Enforcement Directorate. She sought bail under Section 439 of the Cr.P.C., but the High Court rejected her application, prompting…

The Supreme Court examined whether secured creditors could claim priority over assets attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the Maharashtra Protection of Investors and Depositors Act (MPID Act) by invoking the SARFAESI Act and the Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy (RDB) Act. It also considered…

The former West Bengal Education Minister, Partha Chatterjee, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a large‑scale teachers recruitment scam and alleged money‑laundering offences under the PMLA. After raids recovered substantial cash and gold from his associates and companies, he was denied bail…

The appellant, a three‑time Chief Minister of Delhi, was arrested by the CBI in June 2024 in connection with an FIR registered in August 2022 under sections 120B, 477A IPC and section 7 PC Act. He challenged the legality of the arrest under Sections 41A and 41(1)(b)(ii) of the CrPC and also sought regular bail. The Hig…

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigated money‑laundering offences arising from three FIRs and an ECIR filed against India Bulls Housing Finance Ltd (IHFL) and its officers after the financial institution recovered dues from defaulting borrowers under the SARFAESI Act. The borrowers challenged the FIRs and the ECI…

The Supreme Court examined the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, in connection with the Delhi excise policy case alleging kickbacks and money‑laundering. Kejriwal challenged the arrest as illegal, arguing that the "reasons to believe" did not disclose all materi…

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigated alleged tampering of e‑tender bids that led to charges under the IPC, IT Act and the Prevention of Corruption Act. Because those offences are scheduled under the Prevention of Money‑Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), the ED opened a money‑laundering investigation and the accused,…

The Union of India, represented by the Enforcement Directorate, appealed against a Patna High Court order that granted regular bail to Kanhaiya Prasad in a PMLA case involving alleged money laundering of proceeds from illegal sand mining by his father. The High Court had released the respondent without satisfying the t…

The Supreme Court addressed a series of applications concerning bail procedures, directing that any non‑compliance with Sections 41 and 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) automatically entitles the accused to bail. It emphasized that courts must verify compliance with these sections before authorising detenti…

The Supreme Court dismissed the appeals of Rohit Tandon challenging the denial of regular bail under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The Court held that the threshold conditions of Section 45 of the PMLA were not satisfied, as the prosecution presented substantial evidence of the appellant’s involvement …

Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, was arrested on 21 March 2024 by the Directorate of Enforcement in connection with alleged offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and related statutes. He challenged the arrest before the Supreme Court, arguing that the legality of his detention was sub judic…

The Supreme Court examined a contempt petition filed by Rajeshwar Singh, an Assistant Director of the Enforcement Directorate, who alleged that respondents including Subrata Roy Sahara were intimidating him and attempting to derail the court‑monitored investigation into the 2G Spectrum scam. The petitioner invoked Arti…

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued multiple summons under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) requiring the appellants, Abhishek Banerjee and Rujira Banerjee, to appear in Delhi and produce documents related to a coal theft and money‑laundering investigation. The appellants challenged the s…

The appellant, former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, was arrested in 2023 in connection with CBI and ED investigations into alleged irregularities in Delhi’s excise policy. He remained in custody for about 17 months without trial, and his multiple bail applications were rejected by the trial court and the Delhi …

A complaint under Section 44(1)(b) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 was filed on 2 August 2024 naming the appellant as an accused. The Special Judge took cognizance of the offence without first giving the accused an opportunity to be heard, contrary to the proviso to sub‑section (1) of Section 223 of the…

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) investigated alleged fraud involving the Adarsh Group and filed a criminal complaint before a Special Court, which took cognizance of offences under the Companies Act, 2013 and the IPC and issued bailable and later non‑bailable warrants against 16 respondents. The responden…

The petitioners challenged a complaint filed by the Directorate of Enforcement under Section 44(1)(b) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), arguing that the offences alleged, except for IPC Section 120B, were not "scheduled offences" as required by clause (y) of Section 2(1) of the PMLA. The Supreme C…

The petitioners, led by Prem Mishra, claimed a 40% entitlement over a 'yellow' portion of land in the Amrapali Indore project based on a Memorandum of Understanding and sought release of attachment on their assets. The Debt Recovery Tribunal had attached both the 'green' (Amrapali) and 'yellow' (petitioners') areas, pr…

The Supreme Court granted the petitioner absolute interim anticipatory bail on 8 December 2023, ordering his release on bail if arrested. Despite this, the police remanded him to custody on 13 December 2023, and the magistrate failed to release him after the remand period, resulting in an illegal detention of about 48 …

The appellant, a cabinet minister, was arrested under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) on 14 June 2023 and produced before a magistrate, after which a judicial remand was ordered. His wife filed a writ of habeas corpus challenging the arrest, while the respondents sought police custody …

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the petitioner conducted three crowdfunding campaigns on the Ketto platform. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) opened investigations under FEMA and later filed a complaint under the Prevention of Money‑Laundering Act (PMLA), attaching the petitioner’s bank account in Navi Mumbai. The Specia…

The Enforcement Directorate filed complaints under Section 44(1)(b) of the PMLA alleging money‑laundering offences by two civil servants, one a Vice Chairman/Managing Director of a state corporation and the other a Principal Secretary of the Andhra Pradesh government. The Special Court took cognizance of the complaints…

Nav Nirman Builders & Developers Pvt. Ltd. (appellant) had two parcels of land provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money‑Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) and a confirmation order under s.8(3) was challenged before the Appellate Tribunal under s.26. While the appeal was pending, the Enforcement Directorate filed a…

The appellant, a former promoter and non‑executive chairman of Amtek Auto Ltd., was arrested in July 2024 on allegations of massive bank fraud and money‑laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). Despite cooperating with the investigation and being the sole accused taken into custody among 28…

The appellant, former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, was charged with alleged irregularities in a foreign investment clearance and money‑laundering offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Prevention of Money‑Laundering Act (PMLA). The Enforcement Directorate (ED) produced a sealed cover containing doc…

J. Sekar Reddy, managing partner of SRS Mining, was searched by the Income Tax Department in December 2016, leading to the seizure of about Rs 107 crore in cash and gold. The CBI registered FIRs for scheduled offences under the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act, and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached the …

The Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram was implicated in a CBI‑filed FIR and a subsequent Enforcement Directorate money‑laundering case, though he was not named as an accused. After his arrest, he sought regular bail under CrPC s.439, which the Delhi High Court denied on grounds of alleged seriousness, flight‑risk, …

The appellants, Pankaj Bansal and Basant Bansal, were arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under Section 19(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) after being summoned in connection with two Enforcement Case Information Reports (ECIRs). They had earlier obtained anticipatory bail for the firs…

The Supreme Court examined whether its own orders dated 11 April 2011 and 9 November 2012, issued under Articles 136 and 142 while monitoring the 2G spectrum scam investigation, could be recalled. The petitioners argued that the orders infringed their right to approach the High Courts under Articles 226, 227 and Sectio…

The Enforcement Directorate, invoking the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), issued a communication on 15 May 2020 directing several banks to debit‑freeze the accounts of Opto Circuit India Ltd. The company challenged the order, seeking its quash and the defreezing of the accounts to enable payment of sta…

The petitions arose after Hindenburg Research alleged that the Adani Group manipulated its share price and failed to disclose related‑party transactions, prompting the petitioner to seek a court‑monitored investigation by a Special Investigation Team or the CBI and the revocation of certain SEBI regulations. The Suprem…

The petitioners, including Essar Teleholdings Ltd., challenged the Delhi High Court's administrative order and the NCT of Delhi's notification appointing a Special Judge to try the 2G spectrum case, arguing that the Special Judge lacked jurisdiction to try IPC offences (420/120‑B) arising from the same transaction. The…