PMLA Review Pleas: SC to Examine ECIR, ED Arrest Powers and Burden of Proof

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear review petitions challenging its 2022 verdict that upheld wide-ranging powers of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The development could reopen questions about procedural safeguards in money-laundering investigations.

On August 20, the court assigned the matter to a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana, after parties consented to the change. The next hearing date will be notified. The 2022 ruling remains unchanged.

The court will first examine maintainability, before reconsidering the merits. Review jurisdiction is narrower than an appeal. The ED has argued that petitioners must demonstrate an “error apparent on the face of the record” and cannot use review proceedings as an appeal in disguise.

The Centre has argued that the review should be confined to two issues on which notice was issued in 2022: whether an accused must receive a copy of the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) and whether the reverse burden of proof under Section 24 is constitutionally valid. Petitioners, however, have proposed 13 questions and dispute such restrictions.

The 2022 judgment in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary v Union of India upheld the ED’s powers to arrest, search, seize and attach property, along with stringent bail conditions under Section 45 and the reverse burden under Section 24. The court held that the ECIR is an internal ED document and need not routinely be supplied to an accused, provided the grounds of arrest are communicated. It further held that ED officers are not police officers as such.

If the review crosses the maintainability hurdle, the consequences could be significant. A change on ECIR disclosure could strengthen an accused’s access to information and procedural protections. Reconsideration of Section 24 could alter how the burden operates in PMLA cases. Broader changes could affect ED arrest and investigation practices, bail proceedings and the balance between financial-crime enforcement and constitutional safeguards.

For now, however, the 2022 framework remains the governing law.