Courts often remark that the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of 2002 is an evolving legislation which often throws up new legal questions “but, I find that it is actually the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) officials who are evolving day by day by expanding their powers,” in the course of implementing the legislation, said Justice M.S. Ramesh of the Madras High Court on Tuesday (June 17, 2025).
Presiding over a Division Bench along with Justice V. Lakshminarayanan to hear a batch of three writ petitions filed by film producer Akash Baskaran and his friend Vikram Ravindran, the senior judge wondered which provision of the PMLA empowers the ED officials to seal a residential/business premises if it was found to be locked when the officials go over there for a search and seizure operation.
