Supreme Court (PTI)
Relieving Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s aide in a case related to illegal mining registered by the investigative agency Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Supreme Court said there is a rule of bail in cases registered under money laundering and possession. There is an exception in prison. No person should be deprived of his liberty.
While granting bail to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s aide Prem Prakash in a money laundering case related to the alleged land scam, Justices BR Gavai and K.V. Viswanathan’s bench said, “Bail is the rule while imprisonment is the exception.” The bench further said, “Individual liberty is always the rule and prison is the exception. “This can only be done under a procedure established by law, which must be done legally and fairly.”
‘Statement under Section 50 of PMLA is inadmissible’
The country’s apex court in its decision said that custodial confessions in any other case attracting the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) will not be admissible in court.
In custody, Prem Prakash confessed to his involvement in another land scam case. The court said, “We have no hesitation in holding that when an accused is in custody under the PMLA, irrespective of the case in which he is in custody, any statement under Section 50 of the PMLA before the same investigating agency is inadmissible.” The court also said, “This is because a person detained as part of proceedings conducted by the same investigating agency is not a person who has an open mind.”
The SC set aside the HC’s decision
The bench cited the Supreme Court’s judgment two years ago in 2022 which upheld the provisions of PMLA and the August 9 verdict in the money laundering and corruption case against former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who was granted bail, and said, it has become clear. Even under the PMLA, the governing principle is that bail is the rule while the jail system is the exception.
The bench also said that no person should be deprived of his liberty. Even in Section 45 of the PMLA, which imposes double conditions for bail of an accused in a money laundering case, the principle is not written in such a way that deprivation of liberty is a rule. “The dual proviso under Section 45 of the PMLA does not exhaust this principle,” the bench said.
The bench also granted bail to accused Prem Prakash, who was described by the Enforcement Directorate as a close aide of Hemant Soren and accused of being involved in illegal mining in the state. The top court set aside the March 22 order of the Jharkhand High Court, which rejected his bail plea. Also, the court has asked the subordinate court to expedite the hearing of the case.
