Bail is the rule and jail is the exception even in cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the Supreme Court held on Wednesday, reported Live Law.

A division bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan passed the judgement while allowing bail to Prem Prakash, an aide of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, in a money laundering case, reported Bar and Bench.

It said that while Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act lays down the conditions on which bail should be granted, it does not alter the fundamental principle that bail is the rule.

Under Section 45 of the law, the court must be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe the accused is not guilty of the offence in question, and it must also be satisfied that the accused is not likely to commit any crimes while out on bail.

The court said that the deprivation of personal liberty can be allowed only through procedure established by law, which has to be valid and reasonable.

The court also held that confessions made by an accused under the anti-money laundering law to an investigating office will not be admissible as evidence, reported Bar and Bench.

The bar against such confessions under Section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act will apply, the bench said. Under the Indian Evidence Act, confessions made to a police officer cannot be used against a person accused of an offence.

“We hold statements of the appellant if found to be incriminating will be hit by Section 25 [Indian Evidence Act],” the bench said. “It will be a travesty to make the statement admissible merely because he was then under custody for another ECIR [Enforcement Case Information Report]. It will extremely unfair to make such statements admissible as it will be against all canons of justice.”

The Enforcement Directorate registers an enforcement case information report, which is similar to a first information report.

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