New Delhi, May 13 -- The Supreme Court in a recent judgment has held that the right to fair trial of an accused facing money laundering charges cannot be taken away by "drastic" provisions such as twin conditions of bail and the burden of proof being on the accused , both of which are key provisos of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The court said that right to fair trial guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution includes the "right to defend" and said, in an order passed last week that an accused under PMLA would be entitled to the list of witnesses and documents relied by the ED to defend the charges and even seek bail. The decision by a three-judge bench headed by justice Abhay S Oka said, "The right to defend consists of the right to lead the defence evidence by examining the witnesses and producing the documents. Therefore, the accused is entitled to exercise his right at the stage of entering upon defence by compelling the prosecution or a third party to produce a document or a thing in their possession or custody." The court was dealing with two petitions emanating from different orders issued by the high courts of Delhi and Punjab & Haryana in 2022 and 2024 denying accused facing charges of money laundering under PMLA access of documents relied by ED while filing the complaint. In the second petition, the accused sought copies of documents and property titles seized by ED at the time of raid conducted at their premises. Allowing both appeals, the bench, also comprising justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and AG Masih said, "When the legislature has felt a need to bring out a legislation like the PMLA, it is the duty of the court to interpret Article 21 in such a way that the right of a fair trial available to the accused is not affected." P4...