Supreme Court reconstitutes bench for PMLA verdict review

The Supreme Court has reconstituted the bench to hear pending review petitions against its landmark 2022 verdict on the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. A new three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, will take up the matter. Indiatvnews.com and Indiatoday.in both report that the earlier bench, which included Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N. Kotiswar Singh, was changed after the CJI noted that continuing with it would require reconstituting three existing benches. All parties consented to the new bench.

The review petitions challenge two key aspects of the July 27, 2022 judgment. The first is whether an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) must be supplied to the accused. The second is Section 24 of the PMLA, which places the burden of proof on the accused. The court has confined the review to these limited questions.