PMLA bail riders can't curb right to liberty: SC grants bail to Bengal industrialist

The Supreme Court has granted bail to Bengal-based industrialist Sanjay Sureka, accused of involvement in a ₹6,210.72-crore money-laundering case, saying stringent bail conditions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cannot curtail a citizen's fundamental right to life and personal liberty under Article 21.

Under Section 45 of the PMLA, the court should first seek the public prosecutor's opinion and decide whether there is a prima facie case made out to deny bail.

"In a bail matter, especially in serious offences, the job of a court is to balance the rights of the State with those of the arrestee. In special laws such as PMLA, 2002, the conditions for granting bail are stringent, and the circumstances in which bail can be granted are rare, for the simple reason that economic offences of a large magnitude punch a hole through the financial fabric of the country, causing a top-down ripple effect into the entire ecosystem resulting in large consequences for most of the population. That is the justification for making the provisions of PMLA stringent," a bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi said.