The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is under scrutiny for the drastic powers it has been given in investigating money laundering cases, according to a statement made in the Supreme Court. The statement was made during a hearing involving Gurugram-based realty group M3M and its directors, who were arrested in a money-laundering probe. The directors’ lawyers argued that these powers need to be reined in to protect the rights of individuals in the country.
Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing the M3M directors, Basant Bansal and Pankaj Bansal, highlighted the manner in which the arrests were conducted, stating that they were in violation of their clients’ rights. Salve called for the court to restrain the ED’s powers to ensure the safety of individuals in the country.
The Supreme Court bench, consisting of Justices AS Bopanna and MM Sundresh, noted the arguments made by the directors’ lawyers and mentioned that the Bansal brothers would be seeking anticipatory bail from the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The court then disposed of their pleas.
The Supreme Court was addressing a series of pleas, including challenges to a recent Delhi High Court order that refused to interfere with the arrest of the M3M directors in connection with a bribery case involving a former judge. The Bansal brothers were arrested by the ED on June 14 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). They were subsequently placed in ED custody for five days.
Prior to their arrest, the High Court had granted interim protection from arrest to Basant and Pankaj Bansal until July 5 in a separate money laundering case related to real estate firm IREO. The directors argued that their custody amounted to illegal detention and was an attempt to circumvent the High Court’s orders protecting them from coercive action in another money laundering case.
The money laundering case, for which the Bansal brothers were arrested, was initiated following an FIR filed by the Haryana Police Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) against former special judge Sudhir Parmar, another director of M3M, Roop Kumar Bansal, and another individual. The ED alleged that Parmar had shown favoritism to the accused in a money laundering case involving IREO. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had suspended Parmar after the ACB registered the case.
On June 1, the ED conducted raids on M3M Group, its directors, and IREO in Delhi and Gurugram. The ED claimed that the M3M Group’s owners and promoters, including Basant Bansal, Roop Kumar Bansal, and Pankaj Bansal, deliberately evaded investigation during the raids. The ED alleged that a significant amount of money, amounting to hundreds of crores, had been siphoned off through the M3M Group in the case.
The Supreme Court’s consideration of the powers granted to the ED in money laundering investigations and the calls to rein in these powers raise questions about the balance between law enforcement and individual rights. It remains to be seen how these issues will be addressed and what impact they may have on future cases in the country.
