Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on May 16 gave a fillip to the right to personal liberty by holding that a person summoned by a designated special xourt under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), is presumed to be not in custody and need not apply for bail under the draconian conditions posed by the anti-money laundering law.
“If the accused appears before the special court pursuant to a summons, it cannot be treated that he is in custody. Therefore, it is not necessary for the accused to apply for bail,” a Bench of Justices ASOka and Ujjal Bhuyan held in a judgment.
The Bench said the ED would have to separately apply for the custody of a person once he appears in court. “The Central agency would have to show specific grounds that necessitated custodial interrogation,” said Justice Oka, who wrote the judgment.
