[Sec 45 PMLA] Merely Because A Person Is Under Trial His Right To Life Cannot Be Curtailed: Delhi HC

While acknowledging that right to personal liberty of a person guaranteed under Article 21 can only be curtailed in accordance with the procedure established by law, the Delhi High Court clarified that right to health is also an important facet and merely because a person is under trial, his right to life cannot be curtailed.

The High Court therefore ruled that interim bail can also be granted in terms of the first proviso to Section 45 of the of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 since the health of Petitioner should be given primacy and it is his fundamental right to be given adequate and effective treatment whilst in jail.

A Single Judge Bench of Justice Vikas Mahajan held that “by way of first proviso to sub-section (1) of Section 45 of PMLA, the legislature has carved out an exception which empowers the special Court to grant bail on humanitarian grounds to a person who is under the age of sixteen years or is a woman or is sick or infirm, without insisting upon strict compliance of twin conditions, namely, (i) there are reasonable grounds for believing that accused is not guilty of offence of money-laundering and (ii) he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.”

Senior Advocate Siddharth Aggarwal appeared for the Petitioner, whereas Special Counsel for ED Zoheb Hossain appeared for the Respondent.

In a nutshell, during the pendency of regular bail, wife of the Petitioner has filed the present petition seeking interim bail for her husband (Petitioner) on grounds of medical ailments and concerned treatments. Interim bail is sought on the ground that treatment of such diseases cannot be managed in the jail premises.

After hearing the submission and perusing the medical records, the High Court affirmed that the Petitioner is in fact suffering from various medical conditions and observed that, “The power to grant bail on medical grounds under the first proviso to Section 45(1) of the Act is discretionary, therefore, the same has to be exercised in a judicious manner guided by principles of law after recording satisfaction that necessary circumstances exist warranting exercise of such a discretion”.

However, the High Court also noted that to finally decide the issue of granting interim bail, expert opinion is required to consider whether ailments of the Petitioner taken together warrant specialized treatments and care which is not possible in jail.

Hence, while observing that the court is not competent enough to form an expert opinion on its own, the Bench directed to constitute a medical board to evaluate the medical condition of the Petitioner, on humanitarian grounds.

Cause Title: Sanjay Jain (In JC) v. Enforcement Directorate [Neutral Citation No.: 2023: DHC: 4092]

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