The Supreme Court of India has raised concerns over the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) practice of keeping accused individuals in custody without trial by continuously filing supplementary chargesheets. The remarks were made during a hearing on the default bail plea of Prem Prakash, an alleged associate of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who was arrested in August 2022 in connection with a money laundering case stemming from alleged illegal mining in Jharkhand.
The apex court bench, comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, expressed displeasure at the ED’s filing of four supplementary chargesheets in the aforementioned case. The court highlighted that under the law, a person cannot be arrested without completing the investigation and cannot be kept in custody without the commencement of trial, as it infringes upon the individual’s liberty.
“We are putting you (ED) on notice. (Under the law) You cannot arrest a person without the investigation in the case being complete,” the bench stated, emphasizing that an accused cannot be denied the benefit of default bail. Justice Khanna pointed out that default bail is a right of the accused and cannot be denied due to delayed commencement of trial.
The court referred to the case of former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who has been in jail since 2023 in connection with the Delhi excise policy case, highlighting that prolonged incarceration and delay in commencing trial can lead to the grant of bail.
During the hearing, the ED argued that the accused, Prem Prakash, is influential and may tamper with evidence or influence witnesses if released on bail. However, the Supreme Court directed the ED’s counsel to respond to all queries raised by the bench within a month and scheduled the next hearing for April 29.
Advocate Siddharth Agarwal, representing Prem Prakash, pointed out that his client’s name was not initially mentioned in the FIR, and there were no transactions linking him to the co-accused. He also highlighted that crucial witness statements do not directly implicate Prakash.
Sources By Agencies
