NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday said it would, in April, decide if its 2022 verdict upholding the ED’s powers to arrest and attach property under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) needs reconsideration. A two-judge bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh said a three-judge bench was supposed to hear the matter and it was wrongly listed before it.“So, we will defer the hearing for another day and date in April,” the bench said. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, agreed with the bench and asked it to defer the hearing in late April or early May. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioner, said the matter ought to be heard expeditiously by a three-judge bench.After hearing this, Justice Surya Kant said he ordered listing the matter before a three-judge bench on the administrative side and wondered how it came before the two-judge bench. “We will give you a specific date but this matter will not be heard before April-end,” the bench said.The top court was hearing a batch of pleas seeking reconsideration of the July 27, 2022 verdict of a three-judge bench on certain parameters. The verdict upheld the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) powers of arrest and attachment of property involved in money laundering, search and seizure under PMLA.In August 2022, the top court agreed to hear a plea seeking a review of its July 2022 verdict and observed that two aspects – not providing an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) and reversal of the presumption of innocence – prima facie required reconsideration.
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