MP/MLA Court Or PMLA Court| Madras HC Directs PMLA Court To Consider Senthil Balaji's Bail Plea In Money Laundering Case

A Division Bench of Justice R. Suresh Kumar and Justice K. Kumaresh Babu held that he had been charged under Section 4 of the PMLA and the Act was clear that offences punishable under Section 4 and any scheduled offence connected to the same were to be tried by the special PMLA court constituted for the territorial area in which the offence had been committed, “When that being the position, since the territorial jurisdiction of the case in hand is in Chennai District only, therefore Chennai being one of the jurisdictional area under the notification issued by the Central Government as referred to above, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Principal District Judge, Chennai, naturally the said case has to be tried in the said Court, since the alleged offence is to be punished only under Section 4 of the PMLA Act.”

The petitioner was arrested and underwent major surgery 7 days after the arrest. Subsequently, he was in police custody for six days, and the final report in his case was filed. The petitioner argued that since the investigation is complete, and he still required medical treatment, he should be granted bail.

The petitioner filed a bail application before the Special Court-I for cases involving MLAs and MPs. However, the Special Court returned the application, stating it was not notified under Section 43 of the PMLA Act. The application was then presented before the Principal Judge, Chennai, who also returned it, stating that the case had been transferred to Special Court-I. The petitioner's bail application was returned again when presented before Special Court-I. As a result, the petitioner filed this original petition to address the issue.

Senior Advocate N.R. Elango appeared for the Petitioner and Advocate N. Ramesh appeared for the Respondent.

The key issue before this Court was whether the bail application should be heard by the Principal Judge, Chennai (a designated Special Court under Section 43(1) of the PMLA Act) or the Special Court-I for MLAs and MPs cases, established by a government order in consultation with the High Court.

The Court stated that Section 43(1) of the PMLA Act empowers the Central Government, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court, to designate Special Courts for specific areas or cases. The Central Government had issued a notification on February 05, 2016, designating certain Courts, including the Principal District Judge, Chennai, as Special Courts for areas within their jurisdiction.

“Therefore, whatever the offence that has been alleged against anyone, which is punishable under Section 4 of the PMLA Act, that has to be tried only by Special Courts designated under Section 43(1) of the PMLA Act by virtue of the notification of the Central Government issued in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned, where the proposed Court is located”, the Court held.

The Court held that given that the alleged offence falls under Section 4 of the PMLA Act and the territorial jurisdiction is in Chennai, the case should be tried in the Principal Judge's Court, Chennai, as designated in the Central Government's notification.

The Court thus directed the Principal Judge, Chennai, to withdraw the case from Special Court-I, entertain the bail application, and decide it promptly. The Criminal Original Petition was disposed of with directions.

Cause Title: V. Senthil Balaji v. The Deputy Director, Directorate of Enforcement

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