On Friday, October 21, 2022, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition filed for reconsideration of the 27th July 2022 judgment of the Supreme Court upholding the validity of provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The court dismissed the petition which challenged the constitutional validity of Section 37 of the Act that stipulates the power of the Chairperson to transfer cases.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) UU Lalit and Justice Bela M Trivedi held that “As soon as you have a problem with a provision, you assail the act. It is not as if you face a trial. It is only a prima facie case."

The petitioner also requested that the July 27 verdict be referred to a larger bench in his petition and the court further observed that "You want to refer Vijay Madanlal Choudhary (July 27 judgement on PMLA) to a larger bench? There cannot be such prayers. Sorry. "This plea is misconceived and thus dismissed."

In July earlier this year, the Supreme Court's constitution bench upheld the legality of the PMLA's provisions in a batch of 241 petitions. In contrast to earlier Supreme Court rulings, the verdict supported strict bail requirements in cases involving money laundering. The Court also upheld the legality of Sections 3 (definition of money laundering), 5 (attachment of property), 8(4) [taking possession of attached property], 17 (search and seizure), 18 (search of persons), 19 (powers of arrest), 24 (reverse burden of proof), 44 (offences triable by special court), 45 (offences being cognizable and non-bailable and twin conditions for grant of bail by the court), and Sections 24 (reverse burden of proof) (statements made to ED officials).

The court further held that because an ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report) is an internal document and cannot be compared to a First Information Report, it is not required to be provided as part of PMLA proceedings (FIR).