Directorate of Enforcement Vs Bibhu Prasad Acharya (Supreme Court of India)
Supreme Court held that cognizance of the offence under section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 against the public servant without obtaining previous sanction under section 197(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 untenable in law.
Facts- The appellant has filed complaints against the respondents and others under Section 44(1)(b) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (for short, ‘the PMLA’). The complaint is for an offence under Section 3 of the PMLA, which is punishable under Section 4. The Special Court took cognizance of the complaints and issued summons to the respondents and other accused persons. Both of them filed writ petitions before the High Court challenging the cognizance taken by the Trial Court and inter alia prayed for quashing the complaints on the ground that both of them were public servants and, therefore, it was necessary to obtain prior sanction under sub-section (1) of Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. By the impugned judgment, the High Court upheld the respondents’ contentions and quashed the orders of taking cognizance passed by the Special Court on the complaints only as against the said respondents.
