The Indian Express ·
Supreme Court: Can PMLA authority confirm attachment orders without judicial member on board?
Appearing for the petitioners, Senior Advocate Vikram Chaudhri contended that the AA is performing a quasi-judicial function and not an administrative one as it has to decide a provisional attachment within 180 days.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked whether there would be proper application of mind if only one member sits on the Adjudicating Authority (AA) bench confirming orders of attachment made by the Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, given the workload.
A three-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant posed the query as it reserved its decision on whether the AA can confirm confiscation of assets without a judicial member on board and whether it can sit as a single-member bench.
With the petitioners contending that only a small proportion of the cases booked by the ED is sent for trial while attachments would have applied in all booked cases, the bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, asked the agency to furnish data in this regard.
