8 hours Ago By Pradeep Thakur
NEW DELHI: Enforcement Directorate will soon move the Supreme Court seeking review of its Nov 6 judgment asking the agency to take prior sanction from the govt, as applicable under Section 197(1) of CrPC (Section 218 in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita), before filing a criminal complaint (chargesheet) against any public servant under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). As a result of the SC order, a special court here last week refused to take cognizance of a chargesheet filed against AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan and granted him bail despite evidence of money laundering produced by the agency in its prosecution complaint. The latest ruling has brought a state of uncertainty over dozens of cases and chargesheets filed by the agency in recent years against public servants, including IAS officers, ministers and CMs, and thousands of crores worth of their assets under attachments.
Like in Khan's case, there are a number of other cases in which ED's chargesheet may be challenged by the accused. Some opposition-governed states like West Bengal and Tamil Nadu had even dropped the predicate offence charges (FIRs) in politically sensitive cases and filed counter cases against ED officers investigating these public servants. Delhi health minister Satyender Jain, and former Maharashtra ministers Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik are among people who may challenge ED's chargesheets in view of the SC verdict.
The agency, sources said, is in the process of evaluating opinion as the SC had earlier refused to accommodate its arguments despite its strong defence citing the overriding provisions of the PMLA over all other Acts. The applicability of Section 197(1) of CrPC has been made through provisions of Section 65 of PMLA where the latter states that the code of criminal procedure will apply "in so far as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act"..
