PMLA 'brahmastra' to terrorise opposition will soon vanish: Singhvi

Rajya Sabha Congress MP and senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi has said several holes have already been punched in the "shield of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)" and that the so-called brahmastra (ultimate weapon) used by the government to terrorise the opposition will soon "vanish".

Singhvi, who is counsel for opposition leaders such as Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, also alleged that the Modi government was "distorting" the PMLA, and the courts were reacting.

The noted lawyer said he had obtained release orders for Kejriwal three times under the PMLA, but nothing could be done in the face of a "manipulative and vindictive" government.

"Each time I get a PMLA release you go and arrest him (Kejriwal) in CBI only because you want to delay, this is not fair. Have you ever heard of a person getting bail three times in PMLA and then you arrest him through CBI? Now they know that the time and the process is the punishment," Singhvi told PTI.

"They know that ultimately he deserves bail but you must delay it, you (BJP government) must get political brownie points by the delay. This has happened in other cases which I have done, be it Sanjay Singh or for other political parties... In that process, we are proud that we have made six-seven major chinks in the armour of the PMLA," the Rajya Sabha MP said.

Soon the PMLA will be like a shield with holes and eventually cease to be a shield, Singhvi said. "The prime object of the government to terrorise persons, especially in the opposition, with this so-called 'Brahmastra' will vanish. You will soon find PMLA is not being of that relevance to the government as it has been in the last 10 years," he said.

"Today, we have laws which I had the privilege of establishing and arguing before the court and led to judgments in our favour, which hold that grounds of arrest must be furnished... which say reasons of arrest must be clear from the order, which say that bail not jail is the norm even in PMLA cases," Singhvi said.

The judgments have also specified that one cannot use evidence of those who have turned approvers as conclusive evidence without any corroborative evidence, he added. Singhvi also accused the government of misusing and distorting the PMLA.

Kejriwal is lodged in Tihar Jail under judicial custody in the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.