High Court rules temporary attachment of property under PMLA cannot be kept indefinitely

The High Court stated that property purchased years before the alleged crime cannot be kept under temporary attachment under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The court dismissed the petition filed by Mangaluru entrepreneur Shankar Mahadevan Iyer, who questioned the Enforcement Directorate's action of temporarily attaching the property. The court clarified that the meaning of the judgment is not that the accused's property can be attached without conditions. The court noted that the petitioner had been given an open opportunity to avail the legal remedy available under PMLA.