5. Duty of certain persons to disclose knowledge or belief of acts constituting the offence of money laundering

Any person who knows or has reason to believe from information or other matter obtained by him in the course of any trade, profession, business or employment carried on by such person, that any property has been derived or realised from any unlawful activity, shall disclose his knowledge or belief as soon as is practicable, to the Financial Intelligence

Any person who fails to comply with the provisions of subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence under this Act, and shall on conviction after trial before the High Court be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand rupees or to imprisonment of either description for a period not exceeding six months or to both such fine and imprisonment.

The disclosure by a director or officer or servant of an

The provisions of subsection (1) shall have effect notwithstanding any obligation as to secrecy or other restriction upon the disclosure of information, imposed by any written law or otherwise, and accordingly any disclosure by any person in compliance with the provisions of subsection (1) shall be deemed not to be a contravention of such obligation or restriction.

In a prosecution for an offence under subsection (2) it shall be a defence for the accused to prove to Court, on a balance of probabilities that he had reasonable grounds for not disclosing his knowledge or belief.