Supreme Court judgment incomplete, no final order on arrest case

This case involves Pankaj Bansal and his father Basant Bansal challenging their arrest by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, and the subsequent remand orders passed by the Punjab & Haryana High Court.

Who it concerns: Petitioners: Pankaj Bansal and Basant Bansal; Respondents: Union of India and others (including the ED); Bench: Justices A.S. Bopanna and Sanjay Kumar.

What the court decided

• The Court granted leave to appeal against the orders of the Punjab & Haryana High Court.
• The Court noted that the High Court dismissed the writ petitions challenging the validity of Section 19 of the PMLA and the arrest/remand orders.
• The Court recorded the procedural history, including the issuance of summons, the arrests on June 14, 2023, and the remand to ED custody followed by judicial custody.
• The Court noted that the petitioners argued their arrest was an abuse of power and violated safeguards under Section 19 of the PMLA.

Also in the document

• The judgment text provided is truncated and only covers the background and procedural history (paragraphs 1-9); it does not contain the final operative order, relief granted, or final judgment of the Supreme Court.
• The petitioners had previously secured interim protection (anticipatory bail) from the Delhi High Court, which was challenged by the ED in separate pending Special Leave Petitions.
• The arrests were made in connection with a second Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) recorded on June 13, 2023, despite the petitioners not being named as accused in the initial FIR or the first ECIR.