Bail is rule and jail is exception even in PMLA cases: Supreme Court

In a judgment of significant implications, the general principle of law that 'bail is rule and jail is exception' applies even to money laundering cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Supreme Court held on Wednesday while granting bail to one Prem Prakash, an alleged aide of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in a money laundering case [Prem Prakash v. Union of India through the Directorate of Enforcement]..A Bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan held that liberty of individual is always the rule and deprivation of the same by procedure established by law, is the exception. The stringent conditions for bail under PMLA will to override this principle, the Court made it clear."Relying on the judgment in Manish Sisodia, we have said that even in PMLA, bail is a rule and jail the exception. All that Section 45 specifies is the conditions to be met for bail. Liberty of the individual is always the rule and deprivation, by procedure established by law, the exception. Twin test does not take away this principle," the Court said reading out its judgment..Pertinently, the Court also held that confessions made by a PMLA accused to an investigating office will not ordinarily be admissible as evidence and the bar against such confessions under Section 25 of Indian Evidence Act will apply."We hold that the statement of the appellant if to be considered as incriminating against the maker, will be hit by Section 25 of the Evidence Act since he has given the statement whilst in judicial custody, pursuant to another proceeding instituted by the same Investigating Agency. Taken as he was from the judicial custody to record the statement, it will be a travesty of justice to render the statement admissible against the appellant", the Bench stated.Whether Section 25 Evidence Act will apply will have to be seen on case-to-case basis in PMLA, it added..In the instant case, the Court noted that the trial is delayed and there is a long list of witnesses to be examined. The Court also held that the appellant is not prima facie guilty of the offences and is unlikely to tamper with evidence. Hence, it found that it was a fit case for bail. The Court, therefore, granted bail to Prakash subject to furnishing bail bond of ₹5 lakh, with two sureties of like amount, and subject to other conditions to be set by the trial court. .Senior Advocates Ranjit Kumar and Siddharth Agarwal with Advocates Indrajit Sinha, Sneh Singh, Anusuya Sadhu Sinha, Sowjhanya Shankar, Harsh Yadav, Siddharth Naidu, briefed by a team from KSN & Co, appeared for Prakash.Additional Solicitor General SV Raju with Advocates Zoheb Hossain, Annam Venkatesh, Kanu Agrawal, Mrigank Pathak, Aakriti Mishra, and Arvind Kumar Sharma appeared for the ED..[Read Judgment]