V Senthilbalaji
NEW DELHI: Embattled Minister V Senthilbalaji and his wife Megala on Wednesday assailed the Enforcement Directorate’s decision to arrest him in a money laundering case, saying in accordance with a Supreme court judgment, the officials of the probe agency are not police officers and so they cannot make arrests.
Appearing for the Minister and his wife before a bench of Justices AS Bopanna and MM Sundresh, senior advocate Kapil Sibal referred to various provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the apex court judgment while trying to drive home the point that ED not being a police agency lacked the power to arrest.
“If an officer of the ED is not a police officer when a person accused of predicate offence under the PMLA has to compulsorily answer questions or face prosecution, making their statement admissible in trial, then at what stage do they become a police officer,” Sibal asked. He referred to the top court’s 2022 judgment in the Vijay Madanlal Choudhary case and said it had held that ED officers are not “police officers.” He further said, “Personally, I feel Vijay Madanlal’s judgment is wrong...But, here I am relying on that judgment to say that ED officials are not police officers.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED, said the plea be decided expeditiously as the probe agency only has time till August 13 to quiz the Minister in custody. The bench took note and said it will continue hearing on Thursday at 2 pm.
