Court Upholds PMLA Powers: Repayment or Quashed Offences Don't Stop Money Laundering Investigations.

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....The court held that the competent authorities under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cannot be restrained from exercising their statutory powers, even if the predicate offence has been quashed or the victims have received back the money involved. Mere repayment of money or quashment of the FIR in the predicate offence does not absolve the offence of money laundering under the PMLA. The authorities retain the power to summon, investigate, and trace the proceeds of crime under the PMLA. Issuing a writ of mandamus to forbear the authorities from summoning any person under the PMLA would defeat the very purpose and objective of the Act. Therefore, the court dismissed the writ petition seeking to restrain the authorities from invoking the PMLA provisions against the petitioner.....