SC: Money laundering damages financial system of the country
04.02.2022
The court is examining constitutional validity of various provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for allegedly being violative of basic principles of natural justice and crimina l jurisprudence. While hearing a batch of over 250 petitions, including those filed by Congress leader Karti Chidambaram and former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, the court said such crim e affects the integrity
and sovereignty of the country and that was the purpose for bringing the Act.
“The offence of money laundering is more heinous. It damages the economy and the financial system of the country. It can put the economy on hold orcan derail it. It is more serious than murder. That is why a special Act was framed,” a bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and C T Ravikumar observed when it was p ointed out that the procedure prescribed in the Act is against the Criminal Procedure Code and Indian Evidence Act.
The court said that money laundering is not only used for drug trading but also for terrorist activities and such crime is not only heinous but also affects integrity and sovereignty of the country.
It said that possessing stolen property and ill gotten property out of proceeds of crime cannot be put on the same footing. The petitioners are being represented by top legal minds, including Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Sidharth Luthra and they pressed that the validity of provisions needed to be examined.
Money laundering more heinous than murder: SC
New Delhi: Observing that the offence of money laundering cannot be treated lightly, the Supreme Court on Thursday said that it was more serious and hei- nous crime than murder as it affected the entire economy whose growth could be put on hold or derailed because of it, reports Amit Anand Choudhary
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