The High Court of Karnataka on Friday adjourned further hearing on a petition filed by S.C. Jayachandra, a suspended chief project officer of the State Highway Development Project, who has questioned the case registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering (PML) Act.
Justice Anand Byrareddy adjourned hearing after the counsel for the ED opposed the plea for staying the proceedings, initiated by the ED after the searches conducted in by the Income Tax Department during December last year revealed that the petitioner possessed demonetised currencies.
During the hearing, the counsel for Mr. Jayachandra contended that the ED’s action was not valid in law as the assets in question were acquired by the petitioner prior to various offences, including under the Prevention of Corruption Act, were brought under the purview of the PML Act for the purpose of attachment of properties that were said to have been possessed through the proceeds of the crimes.
Citing a verdict of the High Court in G. Janardhan Reddy’s case, in which the court had held that ED cannot invoke the provisions of PML Act with retrospective effect, prior to July 1, 2009, on which date the offences under different laws were brought under the ambit of PML Act. However, the counsel for the ED clarified to the court that the finding in the Janardhana Reddy’s case does not apply to the present case, and urged the court not to stay the proceedings.
