The Centre on Tuesday defended in the Supreme Court the PMLA provision relating to power to arrest saying adequate “safeguards†are provided in it and relevant records, including grounds for arrest and the material on the basis of which the conclusion has been arrived at, are placed before the concerned court for its perusal. The government told the apex court, which is hearing arguments on a batch of petitions concerning the interpretation of certain provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), that nothing is “kept confidential†from the concerned court. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told a bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar that no provision can be quashed merely because it deviates from Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
“Please see how many safeguards are provided in section 19 (of PMLA),†Mehta told bench, also comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and C T Ravikumar, while referring to Section 19. Section 19 of PMLA deals with aspect of power to arrest.
The solicitor general told bench that validity of Section 19 of PMLA has been challenged in the matter on the ground that it allegedly violates Articles 14 (equality before law) and 21 (protection of life and personal liberty) of Constitution.
“No provision can be quashed merely because it deviates from the CrPC. It (provision) has to be Constitution compliant,†he said. Referring to the Section, Mehta said only higher officials are empowered with the power to arrest and every arrested person has to be produced before the court within 24 hours.
He said there are adequate “safeguards which guard the provision against any attack on the ground of violation of Article 14 and 21â€. “The whole purpose of arrest is to illicit whatever information, which you have, by custodial interrogation,†the bench observed.
