Bail is rule, jail is exception is applicable even in money laundering cases: SC

Granting bail to an alleged accused, identified as Prem Prakash, the Supreme Court of India today, on August 28 noted that “bail is the rule, and jail is an exception” even in money laundering cases, PTI reported.
The apex court’s observation came while granting bail to Prakash, an alleged aide to former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, in an illegal mining case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), it said.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan held that even in cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), “bail is a rule and jail is an exception”, adding that no person should be deprived of liberty.
The SC bench noted that Section 45 of the PMLA, which lays down twin conditions for the bail of an accused in a money laundering case, does not rewrite the principle to mean that deprivation of liberty is the norm, the report added.
The Supreme Court referred to the August 9 verdict involving money laundering and corruption cases against Aam Admi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. It said that “liberty of the individual is always the rule, and deprivation of it by the procedure established by law is the exception”.
“Twin test under section 45 of the PMLA does not take away this principle,” the bench held.
The top court set aside the March 22 order of the Jharkhand High Court (HC) denying Prakash bail and directed the lower court to expedite its trial in the case.
The ED alleges that Prakash, is a close aide of Soren, and have accused him of being involved in illegal mining in Jharkhand.
Soren himself was granted bail in a case related to a land scam by the Jharkhand HC on June 28.
He was arrested by the ED on January 31 on accusations of manipulating records with fictitious transactions and using forged documents to acquire land. Soren resigned as the Chief Minister after ED’s arrest on the same day.
(With inputs from PTI)