Abhishek Banerjee vs Directorate Of Enforcement 2024 INSC 668 – PMLA – CrPC

Prevention of Money Laundering Act,2002 -Code Of Criminal Procedure,1973; Chapter XII– The provisions of Chapter XII of the Code (under which Section 160 falls) do not apply in all respects to deal with information derived relating to the commission of money laundering offence much less investigation thereof – The dispensation regarding Prevention of Money Laundering, Attachment of Proceeds of Crime, and Inquiry/Investigation of offence of Money Laundering including issuing summons, recording of statements, calling upon persons for production of documents etc. upto filing of the Complaint in respect of offence under Section 3 of PMLA is fully governed by the provisions of the said Act itself. The jurisdictional police who is governed by the regime of Chapter XII of the Code, can not register the offence of money laundering, nor can investigate into it, in view of the special procedure prescribed under the PMLA with regard to the registration of offence and inquiry/investigation thereof, and that the special procedure must prevail in terms of Section 71 of the PMLA- Specific procedure prescribed under the Statutory Rules of 2005 for summoning the person under sub-sections (2) and (3) of Section 50 of the Act, the same would prevail over any other procedure prescribed under the Code, particularly the procedure contemplated in Section 160/161, as also the procedure for production of documents contemplated in Section 91 of the Code, in view of the overriding effect given to the PMLA over the other Acts including the Cr.P.C. under Section 71 r/w Section 65 of the PMLA.

Constitution of India, 1950; Article 20(3)– Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 ; Section 50-Section 50 enables the authorized Authority to issue summon to any person whose attendance he considers necessary for giving evidence or to produce any records during the course of the proceedings under the Act, and that the persons so summoned is bound to attend in person or through authorized agent, and to state truth upon the subject concerning which he is being examined or is expected to make statement and produce documents as may be required by virtue of subsection (3) of Section 50. At the stage of issue of summons, the person cannot claim protection under Article 20(3) of the Constitution, the same being not “testimonial compulsion”. At the stage of recording of statement of a person for the purpose of inquiring into the relevant facts in connection with the property being proceeds of crime, is not an investigation for prosecution as such. The summons can be issued even to witnesses in the inquiry so conducted by the authorized officers. The consequences of Article 20(3) of the Constitution or Section 25 of the Evidence Act may come into play only if the involvement of such person (noticee) is revealed and his or her statements is recorded after a formal arrest by the ED official. (Para 19) – Referred to Vijay Madanlal Choudhary vs. Union of India [2022] 6 S.C.R. 382 :: 2022 INSC 757.