The Hon’ble Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition directing to award consecutive sentences instead of concurrent ones, to the people convicted for offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, Prevention of Corruption Act, Prevention of Money Laundering Act, Foreign Contributions Regulation Act, Prohibition of Benami Property Transaction. This petition is going to be heard on the 10th of May 2019.
The Petition was filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhay, and it refers to the proposal put forth by the Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court appointed SIT, on black money. It was appointed by Justice Arijit Pasayat. Justice Pasayat had asked for more stringent PMLA with an increase in the jail term. This was stated on the basis of precedents of the United States, in which offenders of this category were sentenced with punishment upto 150 years. The offence of murder and evasion of tax is being used to given a comparative analysis in which it is being said that laundering of huge sums of money can may as well be the murder of our economy.
The Petition goes on to highlight the fact that recommendations of 2012, by the Financial Action Task Force, was not implemented till date. It also goes on to blame cash transactions for corruption, and also that cash transactions above 10,000,be restricted. Secondly, the fact that strong deterrent punishment can reduce the employees from indulging in the act of money laundering by the bank management. No case of money laundering should be treated lightly and should be dealt with seriousness and sincerity. The Petition then goes on to plead for the inapplicability of the Section 31 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Lastly, the Petition demands speaks about the setting up of a Committee chaired by a former retired Supreme Court judge for the examination and dealing with Anti-Corruption Law, Benami Property Law and Anti-Money Laundering Law of developed countries, and along with that suggest appropriate steps to deal with this issue and how to implement the practices of curbing it. The other alternative suggested by the Petition is for the Law Commission to examine the same.
Every country needs a healthy and stable financial system. With rising cases of corruption, strict steps have to be taken of for the curbing of corruption and related evils. Hence measure have to be taken to curb cases of laundering for a better and flourishing economy.
Courtesy/By: Nayantara Bhattacharyya
|
04 May 2019
