Enforcement Directorate Can’t Arrest People As Per Whims And Fancies: Supreme Court

New Delhi: 

The Supreme Court said on Friday that the power to arrest under the anti-money laundering law cannot be exercised according to the whims and fancies of the Enforcement Directorate officer.

A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, which granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case linked to alleged excise policy scam, said any undue indulgence and latitude to the ED will be deleterious to the constitutional values of rule of law and life and liberty of people.

“An officer cannot be allowed to selectively pick and choose material implicating the person to be arrested. They have to equally apply their mind to other material which absolves and exculpates the arrestee. The power to arrest under Section 19(1) of the PML Act cannot be exercised as per the whims and fancies of the officer,” the bench said in its 64-page verdict.

The bench said the ED officers acting under Section 19(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cannot ignore or not consider the material which exonerates the arrestee.

“The legality of the ‘reasons to believe’ have to be examined based on what is mentioned and recorded therein and the material on record.

“However, the officer acting under Section 19(1) of the PML Act cannot ignore or not consider the material which exonerates the arrestee. Any such non-consideration would lead to difficult and unacceptable results,” it said.

The bench said the opinion of the ED officer is undoubtedly subjective, but the formation of opinion should be in accordance with the law