Tellmy Jolly

The Kerala High Court has held that Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshiya Adhiniyam (BSA) grant discretion in the manner for summoning and examining witnesses, allowing the Trial Court to determine whether to proceed with the PMLA trial or to keep it in abeyance until the predicate offence trial is concluded.A division bench of Justice A.Muhamed Mustaque and Justice...

The Kerala High Court has held that Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 does not penalize a person for his past actions, but penal consequences only follow when the accused utilizes the proceeds of the crime from past actions for money laundering after the enactment of PMLA and the amendment to its schedule in 2009. The Court thus held that Section 3 of the PMLA criminalizes the act of money laundering and does not violate Article 20(1) of the Constitution.

The Division Bench of Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice S. Manu observed that public funds were utilized for pursuing litigations and emphasized the need to know when to put an end to it. Court said, “Considering the fact that the costs of the litigation are being paid out of public funds, the Grama Panchayat should have been circumspect as to where to stop the litigation.