The Congress on Wednesday said that the Supreme Court’s judgement on the Enforcement Directorate’s powers will have “far-reaching implications” for the country’s democracy.
Earlier in the day, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar, upheld the core amendments made to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act that gives the government and the Enforcement Directorate virtually unbridled powers of summons, arrest and raids. Over 200 petitions were filed against the amendments arguing that they violate personal liberty, procedures of law and the constitutional mandate.
Former ministers Mehbooba Mufti, Anil Deshmukh and Karti Chidambaram were among the petitioners.
Apart from Karti Chidambaram and his father P Chidambaram, top political leaders such as Congress’ Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut, President of Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Faooq Abdullah, Aam Aadmi Party’s Satyendar Jain, Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee are among those currently being investigated by the central agency for alleged money laundering.
On Wednesday, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a statement that the Supreme Court ruling will have consequences, especially when “governments are anchored in political vendetta”.
“However, there is one specific aspect of the judgement I would like to address immediately,” the statement added. “I had moved the Supreme Court on the blatant misuse of the Money Bill route by the Modi Government, on the amendments made to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The Supreme Court had issued notice on my petition on July 2, 2019. This question remains unresolved in today’s judgement.”
Ramesh was referring to a 2019 amendment in which provisions of the Act were changed to include possession of crime proceeds within the definition of money laundering.
On Wednesday, the petitioners argued that concealing the “proceeds of crime” by itself should not qualify as money laundering. They submitted that the amendments were brought through Money Bills that need to be passed only in the Lok Sabha and not the Rajya Sabha.
Money Bills concern with subjects dealing with government revenue and expenditure. But, the Supreme Court said the method of introduction of the amendments through a Money Bill would be separately examined by a larger bench.
Ramesh, however, noted that the Supreme Court has agreed that it is “conscious of the fact that if that ground of challenge is to be accepted, it may go to the root of the matter and amendments effected vide Finance Act would become unconstitutional or ineffective”.
He added that it was a “matter of some gratification” that the Supreme Court referred this issue to a larger bench.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot expressed his disappointment over the Supreme Court judgement. “A dictatorial atmosphere has prevailed in the country for the last few years and after this decision, the possibility of political misuse of ED by the Centre will increase further,” he wrote on Twitter.
Also read: How the Modi government has weaponised the ED to go after India’s Opposition
SC ruling a ‘befitting reply to the Opposition’: BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday welcomed the Supreme Court’s verdict saying it was a “befitting reply to the Opposition parties”, PTI reported.
Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said the judgement has cleared all doubts raised by “various quarters” and stressed that the Central government has “no role in determining any case”.
BJP President JP Nadda said the law of the land must be respected.
“The Supreme Court has upheld the PMLA and has also validated the jurisdiction of the ED,” he told reporters. “We honour and respect our Supreme Court and also our Constitution and our law.”
BJP spokesperson and Supreme Court lawyer Gaurav Bhatia said it was “landmark judgement” by the Supreme Court.
“This is a befitting reply to the parties in the opposition, especially the Congress, the Trinamool Congress and the AAP which have been casting aspersions on the functioning of the ED and calling it names,” he added. “They should introspect because the law’s credibility has been reaffirmed by the SC while on the other hand the credibility of the opposition is at its lowest.”
Nalin Kohli, another BJP spokesperson and a Supreme Court lawyer, said the verdict should end the propaganda against the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, reported PTI.
“The law must be applied equally without fear or favour,” Kohli added. “Opposition parties cannot build an argument against the Act, its usage and the ED only on the ground that they are being targeted. All the recent cases where Opposition party leaders have been investigated revealed unexplained huge sums of money, even up to Rs 20 crore in some cases and also large holding of properties which has no link to their direct income.”
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