Bail under the PMLA remains subject to the twin conditions, but those conditions operate on a prima facie assessment and are not an absolute bar. On the material considered, the applicant was not alleged to be involved in the predicate offence and was said only to have converted proceeds of crime into cryptocurrency after the principal offence. As there was no allegation of concealment, possession, acquisition, use, or projection of tainted property as untainted money, the Court treated the money-laundering case as derivative of the scheduled offence and found continued custody unwarranted. Prolonged pre-trial detention and the unlikely early conclusion of trial also engaged Article 21 speedy trial concerns, supporting regular bail.
Bail under the PMLA remains subject to the twin conditions, but those conditions operate on a prima facie assessment and are not an absolute bar. On the material considered, the applicant was not alleged to be involved in the predicate offence and was said only to have converted proceeds of crime into cryptocurrency after the principal offence. As there was no allegation of concealment, possession, acquisition, use, or projection of tainted property as untainted money, the Court treated the money-laundering case as derivative of the scheduled offence and found continued custody unwarranted. Prolonged pre-trial detention and the unlikely early conclusion of trial also engaged Article 21 speedy trial concerns, supporting regular bail.
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