NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has issued notice and sought a response from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on appeals filed by Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji and his wife Megala. The appeals challenge the Madras High Court’s order upholding Balaji’s arrest and granting police custody to the agency in a money laundering case. The court has assured Balaji that “nothing will happen” until the matter is adjudicated. A bench of Justices A S Bopanna and M M Sundresh agreed to list the matter at the earliest and scheduled the next hearing for July 26. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and lawyer Amit Anand Tiwari, representing Balaji, requested the court to pass an interim order to protect him from further police custody, but the bench did not issue any order. The couple approached the Supreme Court after facing a setback from the Madras High Court, which refused to grant them relief.
The main points of contention in the case are whether the ED is entitled to police custody of an accused in a money laundering case and whether the time spent by the accused for medical treatment in police custody should be excluded. Sibal argued that ED officers are not police officers and therefore cannot seek police custody for custodial interrogation. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, on the other hand, stated that ED officials have the authority to arrest and seek custody. The couple’s petition argues that the High Court erred in holding that the ED has the right to investigate further after making an arrest under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and seeking custody for further investigation.
The petition also refers to previous Supreme Court rulings, including the case of Vijay Madanlal Chaudhary, which held that ED officers are not police officers and that the purpose of the PMLA is regulatory, not penal. The petition further argues that police custody under Section 167 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) is limited to the first 15 days of remand, after which only judicial custody is permissible. The Supreme Court will now consider the arguments presented by both sides and make a decision on the matter.
- The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate on appeals filed by Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji and his wife challenging the Madras High Court’s order upholding his arrest and granting police custody to the agency in a money laundering case.
- The court has assured Balaji that “nothing will happen” until the matter is adjudicated and scheduled the next hearing for July 26.
- The main points of contention in the case are whether the ED is entitled to police custody of an accused in a money laundering case and whether the time spent by the accused for medical treatment in police custody should be excluded.
- The couple’s petition argues that ED officers are not police officers and therefore cannot seek police custody for custodial interrogation.
- The petition also refers to previous Supreme Court rulings and argues that police custody under Section 167 of the CrPC is limited to the first 15 days of remand, after which only judicial custody is permissible.
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