The Enforcement Directorate has booked Pune-based real estate agent and stud farm owner Hasan Ali Khan under section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. But sources close to Mr. Khan have claimed that the Act came into force only in July 2005 and all the cases against him are prior to that period. “The PMLA is not retrospective in nature. All the cases that the ED is talking of are prior to 2005. The government notification has been issued on July 1, 2005,” a source told The Hindu .
The notification (a copy of which is with The Hindu ), issued by the Under Secretary, Department of Revenue, states: “In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-sections (3) of section 1 of the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002, the Central government hereby appoints the 1st day of July, 2005 as the date on which the provisions of the said Act shall come into force.” This may further weaken the case of the ED.
