However Strict PMLA Is, Sick & Infirm Accused Should Be Given Bail : Supreme Court

Observing that 'sick and infirm' persons can be granted bail despite the stringency of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Supreme Court today granted interim bail to an accused in a money laundering case.

The bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra granted interim bail to Amar Sadhuram Mulchandani, the former Chairperson of Seva Vikas Co-operative Bank accused of the offence of money laundering.

The bench perused the medical reports furnished by the 4 member committee of experts by the JJ Group of Hospitals before granting the relief. When Senior Advocate Atmaram Nadkarni opposed the grant of bail by saying that the accused was facing other FIRs for tampering with the evidence, CJI said, "Mr Nadkarni, however strict the PMLA is, we have to operate within the four corners of the law. The law tells us that someone who is sick and infirm should be granted bail. The point that he can be treated in a government hospital is no answer to what the statute says."

For context, the proviso to Section 45 of the PMLA says that an accused who is "sick or infirm" can be granted bail regardless of the twin-conditions specified for the grant of bail.

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, for the petitioner, submitted that Mulchandani was suffering from chronic kidney disease and could not perform daily activities while being incarcerated. Nadkarni suggested that he may be admitted to a nearby hospital under custody. In response, Rohatgi stressed that the accused was aged 67 years, has been in jail for 1 year and 3 months now and has not been named in any predicate offence. 

Case details : AMAR SADHURAM MULCHANDANI Versus DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT AND ANR.SLP(Crl) No. 11376/2024