Magistrate Court has no power to permit questioning of Undertrials in Custody under PMLA in Special Court Cases: Karnataka HC [Read Order]

The Karnataka High Court has quashed a Magistrate Court order permitting the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to question five undertrials who are in judicial custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) in a Special Court case. The case pertained to Harsha D, a first divisional clerk who was arrested in the Police Sub-Inspector Recruitment Scam.

The Directorate of Enforcement filed an application under Section 50(3) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 before the concerned Court i.e., the Magistrate seeking permission to record written statement of five accused including the petitioner who are in judicial custody and to allow two officers of the ED with a laptop and a printer for the purpose of recording the statements and also sought a direction to the Jail Authorities to cooperate for recording of such statements.

The petitioner filed his objections to the said application on 05-09-2022. The Magistrate considering both the application and the objection filed, allowed the application and permitted the ED to record the statements as was sought for in the application.

Senior Counsel Sandesh J Chouta argued that since a Special Court had sent Harsha to judicial custody, it was only that court which could permit any agency to question him. The Magistrate court did not have the power to grant it.

A Single Bench consisting of Justice M Nagaprasanna observed that “The application itself was “not maintainable before the learned Magistrate, since the Court did not have the power to direct recording of statements for it to become a record under the PMLA. The order which was passed by the Magistrate court which did not have a jurisdiction to even consider any application under the PMLA, is rendered unsustainable”

However, the Court allowed the ED to make a similar application before the jurisdictional court. “The 3rd respondent – Enforcement Directorate is reserved liberty to file an application of the kind that it has filed before the learned Magistrate, before the Special Court, which shall deal with it in accordance with law.”

To Read the full text of the Order CLICK HERE

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