Supreme Court asks Madras High Court for report on re-hearing of quashed PMLA case

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Registrar General of the Madras High Court to submit a detailed report in a sealed cover regarding the handling of a quashing petition filed by an accused in a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case. [MS Jaffar Sait v. Enforcement Directorate].A Bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih issued the direction after Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra, representing the accused, informed the Court that the case had been shown as quashed before it was unexpectedly listed again for hearing.The Court also stayed all proceedings before the High Court until further orders and listed the matter for hearing on September 30..The money laundering case was filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Jaffar Sait.On August 21, a Bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and V Sivagnanam quashed the ED's complaint against Sait.Two days later, on August 23, the same Bench recalled its August 21 order and decided to re-hear the matter on merits..Heated exchange in Madras High Court after Bench recalls its order quashing ED case.The case against Sait involves allegations that he illegally acquired a Tamil Nadu Housing Board plot of land in 2011. A corruption case registered in the matter against Sait by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) was quashed by the Madras High Court in 2019.Sait then moved the High Court seeking the quashing of the ED's complaint in the matter as well.On August 21, the Court quashed the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) after noting that the predicate case (DVAC case) had already been quashed.However, on August 23, a Bench of Justices Subramaniam and R Sakthivel questioned the ED on money laundering cases fizzling out before reaching their logical conclusion, owing to the quashing of the predicate offence FIRs.This Bench went on to say that cases registered by the ED under the PMLA cannot be allowed to be washed away.The Court added that it will examine the issue in detail. It also asked the ED's counsel to submit explanations to the queries regarding the dropping of money laundering cases, particularly against former IPS officer Jaffar Sait.This exchange then prompted the Court to revoke the August 21 order and rehear Sait's plea. The Court eventually reserved its order in the matter.