SC’s PMLA ruling: 17 Oppn parties term order ‘dangerous’, seek review

Underlining that “the principle of innocence of the accused/offender is regarded as a human right” but “that presumption can be interdicted by a law made by the Parliament/Legislature”, the Supreme Court last week upheld the provisions relating to the Enforcement Directorate’s powers of arrest, attachment, search, and seizure.

The Centre had told the Court that “it cannot be said that presumption of innocence is a constitutional guarantee”.

In a joint statement, the Opposition leaders said the judgment will strengthen the hands of a government that “indulges in political vendetta” to target its opponents and expressed hope that this “dangerous verdict will be short-lived”.

“We place on record our deep apprehension on the long-term implications of the recent Supreme Court judgement upholding, in entirety, the amendments to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, without examining whether some of these amendments could have been enacted by way of Finance Act,” they said in the statement.

Stating that they hold and will always hold the Supreme Court in the highest respect, the parties, however, noted that they “are compelled to point out that the judgment should have awaited the verdict of a larger Bench for examining the constitutionality of the Finance Act route to carry out amendments.”

17 Opposition parties, including TMC & AAP, plus one independent Rajya Sabha MP, have signed a joint statement expressing deep apprehensions on long-term implications of the recent Supreme Court judgement upholding amendments to PMLA,2002 and called for its review. The statement: pic.twitter.com/vmhtxRHAnl

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) August 3, 2022

They further said that they “were also very disappointed that the highest judicial authority, invited to give an independent verdict on the lack of checks and balances in the Act, has virtually reproduced arguments given by the executive in support of draconian amendments”, and added that they hope that the dangerous verdict will be short lived and constitutional provisions will prevail soon.

Among the parties that have signed the joint statement are the Congress, the TMC, DMK, AAP, NCP, Shiv Sena, CPI-M, CPI, IUML, RSP, MDMK, RJD and RLD.

Earlier, the Congress had said the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the constitutional validity of some provisions of the money laundering law will have far-reaching implications for India’s democracy, especially when governments are anchored in “political vendetta”.

(With PTI inputs)