Trial in 28% PMLA cases pending in courts

Trial has not begun in about 28 per cent of Enforcement Directorate’s (ED’s) money laundering cases where chargesheets have been filed before the designated court across the country in last six years, government has informed Parliament.

Minister of State for finance Pankaj Chaudhary on Tuesday told the Rajya Sabha through a written reply to a question that the ED filed 911 chargesheets between 2019 and October 2024 with the maximum 239 being placed before the courts last year.

“Out of the 911 prosecution complaints (chargesheets) which have been filed (during this six year period), as on date, trial is pending in 257 cases,” the junior Finance Minister said.

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“Conviction has been secured in 42 cases for offence of money-laundering wherein 99 accused have been sentenced and proceeds of crime have been confiscated,” Chaudhary added.

According to the minister, as of December 4, a total of 106 special courts are “functioning under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act for trial of offences related to money laundering across the country.”

The government’s revelation comes at a time when the Supreme Court in August had reprimanded ED for low conviction rate in money laundering cases while hearing a bail application of a Chhattisgarh businessman in PMLA matter. A three-judge bench of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta, and Ujjal Bhuyan had observed that the ED should do scientific investigation to increase the conviction rate.

In an earlier session of Parliament held in August, the Centre had told the parliamentarians that out of 5,297 cases lodged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), convictions were secured in only 40 cases.