The Supreme Court on Monday said courts must grant bail to accused persons who are sick and infirm even if the conditions for such relief under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) are stringent.

The apex court made the observation while granting bail to 67-year-old Amar Sadhuram Mulchandani, former chairman of the Pune-based Seva Vikas Cooperative Bank, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last year on money-laundering charges.

“Mr Nadkarni (senior advocate), you must understand that however, stringent the PMLA is, as judges we have to operate within the four corners of law. Law tells us that someone who is sick and infirm be granted bail. That he could be treated at a government hospital is no answer to what the statute says,” Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud told the counsel appearing for the ED.

The bench, which included Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, referred to Section 45(1) of the PMLA, under which the otherwise stringent conditions prescribed for grant of bail were relaxed in the case of women, minors or sick persons.

Mulchandani had approached the Supreme Court after his bail plea was rejected by the special PMLA court and Bombay High Court.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for Mulchandani, argued that the accused who was 67 years old and suffering from serious kidney ailments was finding it difficult to manage his daily chores at the Mumbai jail where he was lodged.

The apex court, which had earlier sought a medical report from JJ Hospital in Mumbai, said it had carefully evaluated the medical opinion of the doctors and the “petitioner fulfils the requirement of the threshold prescribed for being enlarged on bail”.

The apex court had recently granted bail to several persons accused under special enactments such as the NDPS (Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act) and the UAPA (Unlawful Activities and Prevention Act) besides the PMLA. All these acts prescribe stringent bail conditions leading to prolonged incarceration.