In November 2017, a bench of Justices Rohinton Nariman and Sanjay Kishan Kaul, in Nikesh Tarachand Shah vs Union of India, had declared the ‘twin test’ of bail under PMLA as unconstitutional since it was “manifestly arbitrary”. Referring to data presented in Parliament on conviction rate in PMLA cases, the Supreme Court Wednesday asked the ED to focus “on the quality of prosecution and quality of evidence”. “…after the amendment, 5,000 odd cases have been registered and conviction has been obtained only in 40 cases,” Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, who was part of a three-judge bench, said referring to figures presented by the Home Ministry in the Lok Sabha earlier this week. The bench presided by Justice Surya Kant and also comprising Justice Dipankar Datta was hearing a plea by ED challenging the bail plea of Sunil Kumar Agrawal, a businessman arrested in a case of coal transportation in Chhattisgarh. The bench, meanwhile, confirmed its May 17 order granting the accused interim bail. Justice Kant stressed the need for scientific investigation and not merely oral evidence to improve the conviction rate. “Why you really need to (focus) on the quality of prosecution and quality of evidence is because in all the cases where you are satisfied that there is some prima facie case, you need to establish the cases in court… In this very case, you are merely harping upon some statements given by the persons… this type of oral evidence. Tomorrow, God knows if that person will stand by it or not… when he enters the witness box, whether he will be able to face cross-examination or not…” Meanwhile, the SC deferred hearing on petitions seeking a review of its July 27, 2022 ruling upholding the constitutional validity of the PMLA as amended from time to time, including provisions dealing with the powers of the ED regarding arrest, search, attachment and seizure in money laundering offences. A three-judge bench of Justices Surya Kant, CT Ravikumar and Ujjal Bhuyan adjourned the matter till August 28 after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta conveyed to the bench that it was “listed suddenly” Tuesday evening and “we need to go through it”. In November 2017, a bench of Justices Rohinton Nariman and Sanjay Kishan Kaul, in Nikesh Tarachand Shah vs Union of India, had declared the ‘twin test’ of bail under PMLA as unconstitutional since it was “manifestly arbitrary”.