Sections 3, 5 and 8 of the PMLA must be read as an integrated...

Sections 3, 5 and 8 of the PMLA must be read as an integrated scheme, and the offence of money laundering is capable of being continuing where concealment, possession, acquisition or use of property purchased from proceeds of a scheduled offence persists after the Act commenced; such continued activity sustains liability and permits provisional attachment. Treating the subject property (purchased with tainted funds) as 'proceeds of crime' is valid and does not render the statute impermissibly retrospective. The recorded reasoned belief for attachment need only be supported by material and was not shown to be baseless; attachment was upheld and the appeal allowed.