‘Won’t tolerate submissions contrary to statute’: SC pulls up ED for saying rigours of bail apply equally to women

What annoyed the bench about the submission was that it went against the spirit of PMLA section 45(1), which allows courts to exempt women accused from the rigours of the bail clause.

On December 20, 2024, the court expressed its displeasure over the ED counsel’s submission that the bail clause would apply equally to women without any exception.

On Wednesday, Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta apologised to the court for the submission and said the “confusion” happened due to some “miscommunication”. He added that all that was sought to be argued was that the accused woman was the kingpin of the money-laundering operation, which defrauded hundreds of investors out of crores of their life savings and therefore should not be granted bail.

But that did not cool the tempers. “No question of miscommunication. We will never appreciate such submissions by the Union of India,” said Justice Oka.

As Mehta sought time to file a reply, Justice Oka remarked that it reflected the Government’s desire for a person arrested under PMLA to be denied bail regardless of the circumstances.

“If people who appear for the Union of India do not know basic provisions of law, why should they appear in the matter? And to file a counter at the 11th hour? This shows that it is final that a person who is arrested under PMLA has to be denied bail under any circumstance,” said Justice Oka.

Mehta submitted that the counsel who appeared on December 20 had also accepted the legal position that the exception in section 45(1) would apply to a woman.

Justice Oka, however, said, “If government counsels who appear before the court are to proceed on the footing that the court is not aware of basic provisions and make such admissions, what do we do? How do we conduct the proceedings?” He added, “We accept that we don’t know the entire law, but sometimes we do know a few provisions of law.”

Hearing the application on its merits, the court proceeded to grant bail to Bala. It noted that she has been in custody since November 2023 and that there was no chance of the trial being completed soon.