2018 (1) TMI 552 - SCH - Money Laundering

Grant of bail - offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 - petitioner, without approaching the Special Court under the PMLAct, 2002 for grant of bail, has preferred the present petition seeking bail in on the ground that his remand in judicial custody is illegal and without any jurisdiction of the learned Special Court to remand the petitioner any further after the presentation of the prosecution under Section 44 of the PMLA - Held that - We set aside the judgment and order of the High Court 2017 (9) TMI 852 - DELHI HIGH COURT inasmuch, as after recording in paras 76 77 that the appellant was remanded for more than 15 days in one go and that a clear/specific endorsement was necessary and without that having been recorded, the remand was illegal, yet the Court went on to state that for the fault of the Court, the prosecution cannot be made to suffer. Another major departure from settled procedure was that the order of remand was permitted to be recorded by the Reader of the Court which would, according to the High Court, only be an irregularity and not an illegality, which is obviously incorrect in law. We are, therefore, of the considered view that, in the interest of justice, this order is set aside and the matter is remanded for hearing afresh by the High Court. All contentions are kept open to both the parties. We request the High Court to decide the matter as expeditiously as possible.

Summary

The Supreme Court set aside the High Court's judgment due to irregularities in the remand process, remanding the case for a fresh hearing. All contentions are kept open, and the High Court is requested to expedite the matter.