Now Reading: P&H High Court Grants Bail In Prolonged ED Trial
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P&H High Court Grants Bail In Prolonged ED Trial
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has granted regular bail in a money laundering case linked to the alleged diversion of homebuyers’ funds. Justice Sumeet Goel held that prolonged pre-trial custody can…
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has granted regular bail in a money laundering case linked to the alleged diversion of homebuyers’ funds. Justice Sumeet Goel held that prolonged pre-trial custody can justify bail under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act when there is no realistic prospect of the trial ending within a reasonable time.
The court said the stringent twin conditions under Section 45 PMLA must yield to the constitutional right to liberty under Article 21 in such circumstances. It held that the one-half or one-third custody thresholds under Section 436-A of the CrPC and Section 479 of the BNSS are minimum statutory requirements, not preconditions for constitutional bail. The assessment must consider factors including the prescribed sentence, the accused’s prima facie role, prosecution conduct and the pace of the trial.
Indian Opinion Analysis
LiveLaw’s account gives prominence to the court’s constitutional criticism of prolonged custody and its historical references to Ulpian, Magna Carta and Blackstone. It presents the ruling mainly as a safeguard against indefinite incarceration, while providing limited detail about the underlying allegations and the accused. The judgment itself does not create a fixed time limit for bail. Instead, it requires a case-specific assessment of delay, prosecution conduct, alleged culpability and the likely trial timeline. The practical issue to watch is how courts apply this multi-factor test in future PMLA cases involving long custody and slow trials.
Coverage: 1 source, 1 government-critical
Source: livelaw.in (government critical)
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
