The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) power to make arrests and carry out investigations in money laundering cases. 

The apex court has upheld almost all the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in proceeds of crime, search and seizure, power of arrest, attachment of properties, and bail, which had been challenged in the court by several high-profile petitioners including Karti Chidambaram and Mehbooba Mufti.

The Supreme Court ruled that the supply of ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report) copy in every case is not mandatory as it is an internal document, rejecting the petitioners' challenge that it is similar to an FIR and the accused is entitled to a copy. It is enough if the Enforcement Directorate, at the time of arrest, discloses grounds for such arrest, the court said.

The Supreme Court also rejected the petitioners’ plea that filing PMLA charges on cases that occurred before 2002 (when PMLA came into existence) is unconstitutional. The Centre justified it by saying that money laundering is a continuing offence, and not a single act but a chain. Proceeds of crime could have been generated before 2002 but could have still been in possession or in use by the accused after 2002.

The ruling will have a bearing in cases of political leaders such as including Anil Deshmukh, Karti Chidambaram, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, Nawab Malik, Abhishek Banerjee, and some high profile businessmen facing trial under the PMLA Act.

'Proceeds of crime' worth Rs 99,356 crore were attached by the Enforcement Directorate between 2014 to 2022 while the corresponding figure for the value of such attachments was Rs 5,346 crore between 2004 to 2014. The Finance Ministry has stated that this was proof of the Modi government’s commitment to root out money laundering.