The Court emphasized that this right flows from Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to a fair trial.
NEW DELHI: 7th May: Today,The Supreme Court of India clarified that people accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), also have the right to receive copies of documents which the Enforcement Directorate (ED) chooses not to rely on for prosecution or investigation.
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The Bench comprising Justices AS Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan.
The Court emphasized that this right flows from Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to a fair trial.
“It is held that a copy of the list of statements, documents, materials, objects, exhibits that are not relied upon by the investigating officer must also be furnished to the accused,” the Court said.
The Supreme Court explained that the purpose behind this decision is to make sure that the accused is aware of what documents the ED has in its possession—even if they are not being used in court—so that the accused can request them at the right time under Section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) or Section 94 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
The Court stressed that a fair trial includes the right to present a defence, which also involves examining witnesses and producing documents. It added that the accused must be allowed to request the prosecution or even a third party to produce documents that are in their custody, as per Section 233 of the CrPC.
Importantly, the trial court can deny such requests only in specific situations listed under Section 233(3) CrPC—such as if the request is made to delay the case, disturb the judicial process, or harass the other party.
The top court also stated:
“This right can be exercised even if evidence of both sides is closed,” referring to Section 311 of the CrPC, which allows the accused to recall witnesses and cross-examine them using such documents.
Additional Rights of the Accused Under PMLA
The Supreme Court also laid down certain additional rights for accused persons:
- If any property is seized under Sections 17 or 18 of the PMLA, the accused must be given two copies of the seizure memo.
- If any records are seized from the accused, they must be given two copies of such documents as well.
- Once the special court takes cognisance of a complaint under Section 44(1)(b) of the PMLA, the special judge must send the following to the accused along with the complaint: (a) Statements recorded by the special judge of the complainant and any witnesses before taking cognisance;
(b) Documents including statements under Section 50 of the PMLA that were filed with the complaint;
(c) Any documents that were looked at by the ED up to the date of cognisance;
(d) Supplementary complaints and documents submitted with such complaints.
The Court also urged lower courts to interpret Section 233(3) of CrPC more generously when it comes to PMLA cases.
The Court observed that trials under PMLA impose a “huge negative burden on the accused” and it is “difficult for the accused to rebut such negative presumptions” unless the law is interpreted liberally.
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It made clear that even though the ED can object to the accused’s requests for documents under Section 91 CrPC on the ground that such disclosure could hurt the ongoing investigation, the trial court must look into whether that objection is genuine.
“Only if the court after perusing the document is satisfied that disclosure of the documents at that stage may prejudice ongoing investigation, it can deny prayer for production of that document,” the Supreme Court held.
Case Name: Sarla Gupta v. Directorate of Enforcement
