SC constitutes 3-judge bench to hear review petitions against PMLA judgement

New Delhi [India], September 26 : A three-judge bench has been constituted by the Supreme Court to hear the review petitions against its judgment upholding the validity of the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The matter would be heard by October 18.
Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna and Bela M Trivedi are the judges in the bench. This was revealed by the top court bench led by Justice Kaul while hearing BRS leader K Kavitha plea challenging summons issued against her.
The bench will hear the matter from October 18. The Supreme Court has constituted a three-judge bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna and Bela M Trivedi to hear review petitions against the July 2022 judgment of the apex court upholding the validity of the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
This was revealed on Tuesday by a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhansdhu Dhulia while adjourning the case relating to summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate to Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha.
Earlier The Supreme Court had said that prima facie two issues relating to provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act need to be reconsidered.
The court had agreed to hear in an open court, hearing on the review petition against the judgement pertaining to upholding various provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
In one of the review pleas filed by Congress MP Karti Chidambaram On July 27, 2022, the Supreme Court upheld validity of various provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) which empowers ED for making arrests, conducting search and seizures and attaching proceeds of crime
The court had also held that the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) cannot be equated with the First Information Report (FIR) and ED officers are not police officers.
The court was hearing various pleas challenging the various provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Wednesday.
On March 15 2022 the top court had reserved its order on a batch of petitions challenging certain provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Prominent names like Karti Chidambaram and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti were among the petitioners in the case.
Their petitions raised multiple issues including the absence of a procedure to commence investigation and summoning, while the accused was not made aware of the contents of the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR).
Section 45 deals with offences to be cognizable and non-bailable Section 50 of the PMLA empowers the 'authority' i.e. officers of the Enforcement Directorate, to summon any person to give evidence or produce records. All persons summoned are bound to answer questions put to them and to produce the documents as required by the ED officers, failing which they can be penalised under the PMLA.
However, the Centre had justified the constitutional validity of the provisions of PMLA. Centre has apprised the court that around 4,700 cases are being investigated by the Directorate of Enforcement. 
Centre said that PMLA is not a conventional penal statute but is a statute that is aimed at necessarily preventing money laundering, regulating certain activities relatable to money laundering, confiscating the “proceeds of crime” and the property derived therefrom and also requires offenders to be punished by the competent court after filing of a complaint.
Centre submitted that India, and its version of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, is merely a cog in this international vehicle. Centre submitted that India, as a signatory to the treaties and an important participant in the international process and the fight against money laundering, is bound legally and morally, to adopt the global best practices and respond to the changing needs of the times.