Supreme Court of India Reconstitutes Bench for PMLA Review

The Supreme Court of India reconstituted a three-judge bench to hear review petitions challenging the 2022 Vijay Madanlal Choudhary judgment. This landmark ruling upheld the constitutional validity of several provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), including the reverse burden of proof, the twin conditions for bail, and the Enforcement Directorate's authority to conduct arrests, searches, and seizures.

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, joined by Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, leads the new bench. The court opted for this reconstitution because returning the case to the original bench would have required breaking three other existing benches. The change proceeded after Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta expressed no objections.

The review petitions, which include a plea by Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, seek to reconsider the court's refusal to treat the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) as equivalent to a First Information Report (FIR). While petitioners argue the original order should govern the scope of the review, the Union Government contends the review should be limited to the supply of the ECIR and the reversal of the burden of proof. The Enforcement Directorate has raised preliminary objections regarding the maintainability of the petitions, suggesting they may be attempts to seek a rehearing rather than correcting errors on the record.