‘Only 25 of 1,142 cases chargesheeted by ED disposed of in 21 yrs’

The court said many cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) have been pending and trials are held up even though accused are behind bars as undertrial prisoners.

Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor

IN ITS detailed order granting bail to Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor on Thursday, a special court has cited data collated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that till date while 1,142 prosecution complaints or chargesheets were filed, only 25 cases have so far been disposed of in the country. The court said many cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) have been pending and trials are held up even though accused are behind bars as undertrial prisoners.

“Even if statistics of disposal of cases available on the official website of ED is considered as it is, in the last 21 years, out of 1,142 cases, hardly 25 cases could be disposed of, indicating that the per year ratio is 1 case per year in all over India,” the court said. Special Judge M G Deshpande, who presides over the special court designated under the PMLA, referred to delays caused due to non-compliance of a section under the Act.

An offence of money laundering can be filed by the ED only after a scheduled offence is registered showing that there were proceeds of crime. Section 44 (1) (c) of the PMLA mandates that the trial of the scheduled offence filed by other investigating agencies and the trial for money laundering filed by ED have to be conducted simultaneously by one court. If an accused is not found guilty or discharged in the first, the proceedings under the PMLA cannot continue.

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Special Judge Deshpande in his order said the provision makes it very clear that the ED is required to file an application to bring the proceedings in the scheduled offence also before the special court. The court said that unless this is done, no trial would begin under PMLA. The court said that in cases pending before it, the ED had not voluntarily filed such applications without being prompted.

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“Trial of PMLA case is really gigantic in view of Section 44(1)(c) of the PML Act. Therefore, such trials proceed with very slow speed. This court being the Court of First Instance dealing with 79 such gigantic trials of PMLA Special Cases (is) facing a lot of such difficulties. This is the situation all over India and the same is reflected in the official website of the Enforcement Directorate. This data is published till 31.01.2023,” the court said.

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