New Delhi, April 11 -- The Delhi high court has ruled that while trials under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) can proceed independently, a final judgment in such cases cannot be delivered unless the prosecution successfully establishes the commission of the scheduled (predicate) offence that led to the alleged proceeds of crime.
Justice Sanjeev Narula, delivering the verdict on Wednesday, clarified that under the PMLA framework, the existence of "proceeds of crime" depends on the commission of a scheduled offence, which is listed in the Act's schedule.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is empowered to investigate such cases, can only take action if another agency, like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), has reg...