Deshmukh seeks shield from arrest by ED, SC to hear plea

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear former home minister of Maharashtra Anil Deshmukh’s plea for interim protection from arrest in a money laundering case lodged by Enforcement Directorate and posted the case for August 3.
A bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar, Krishna Murari and V Ramasubramanian said that there were many similar petitions filed by other petitioners pertaining to Section 45(1) of PMLA for putting limitations for granting bail.
Section 45(1) of the Act has two pre-conditions for bail — (i) the Public Prosecutor has been given an opportunity to oppose the bail application; and (ii) the court is satisfied that reasonable grounds exist for believing that the person is not guilty of the offence, and the person is not likely to commit any crime while on bail. But the apex court declared it unconstitutional and the government subsequently brought an amendment in the law which allegedly revived the provision.
In the petition filed through advocate Avadh Bihari Kaushik, the former minister contended that the apex court had granted interim protection to other petitioners who challenged the provisions and pleaded for the same relief.
“This court in similar matters, especially relating to the determination as to whether the twin limitations on bail under Section 45(1) of PMLA stand revived post the amendment carried out in 2018,” the petition said.
“This court in Nikesh Tarachand Shah case categorically held the twin conditions under Section 45(1) of PMLA to be unconstitutional. An amendment thereafter was brought in March 2018 which did not explicitly resurrect or revive the twin conditions. Despite the clear position of law that once a court strikes down a provision the same is erased from the statute book, the Enforcement Directorate has been urging in opposition to bail across the country that such twin conditions have been revived and resurrected,” the petition said.