Nagani Akram Mohammad Shafi Vs Union of India (Bombay High Court)
Offence under BNS to be recognized as scheduled offence under PMLA without specific amendment of PMLA schedule
Bombay High Court held that offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 [BNS] can be recognized as scheduled offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 [PMLA] without a specific amendment of the PMLA Schedule.
Facts- The present bail application involves a substantial question of law, which, though uncommon in the context of bail proceedings, assumes considerable importance for the proper adjudication of the present case. The core issue that arises for consideration is whether the references made in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, to the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC), stand vitiated or rendered ineffective by virtue of the repeal of those enactments through the coming into force of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS). A further question that necessarily follows is whether such references in the PMLA are now to be construed as referring to the corresponding provisions under the new legislative regime embodied in the BNS and BNSS.
