SC says govt sanction needed for prosecuting public servants under PMLA
This story was originally published at 20:42 IST on 6 November 2024
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NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that the central or state governments' sanctions were needed for prosecution of public servants under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The top court rejected the cognisance taken by a special court against public servants Bibhu Prasad Acharya and Adityanath Das, without obtaining prior sanctions under Section 197(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
The Bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih considered the object of Section 197(1) and said its applicability cannot be excluded unless there is any provision in the money laundering law which was inconsistent with Section 197(1). "No such provision has been pointed out to us. Therefore, we hold that the provisions of Section 197(1) of CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure) are applicable to a complaint under Section 44(1)(b) of the PMLA," said the Bench.
The top court noted that in the current case "The cognisance of the offence under Section 3, punishable under Section 4 of the PMLA, has been taken against the respondents accused without obtaining previous sanction under Section 197(1) of CrPC". Therefore, the view taken by the high court to reject the special court's cognisance was correct, the top court added.
The case has its genesis from the Enforcement Directorate filing complaints against Acharya and Das under Section 44(1)(b) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. Acharya was vice-chairman and managing director of Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corp. The allegation in the complaint against Acharya was that he, in conspiracy and connivance with YSR Congress Party's Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the then Chief Minister of the state, another accused, allotted 250 acres of land for the special economic zone project to Indu Tech Zone Pvt. Ltd. by violating the existing norms, regulations and procedures.
Das was holding the post of principal secretary, Irrigation and CAD Department of the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The allegation against Das was that in conspiracy with Reddy, he extended favour to India Cement Ltd. by allotting an additional 1 million litres of water from river Kagna without referring the matter to Interstate Water Resources Authority and by violating the existing norms, regulations and procedures. End
Reported by Surya Tripathi
Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj
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