New Delhi: The numbers speak for themselves: of the 5,297 money-laundering cases registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the last 10 years across India, trials have been completed in only 43 of those.
Of the 43 cases in which trials have been completed under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the accused were convicted in 40 cases while 3 cases saw acquittals, which makes the conviction rate at 93 per cent, according to a report submitted to Parliament by ED.
During the same period, the ED filed 8,719 cases under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the anti-terror law.
Of these, trials have concluded in 789 cases with 222 convictions and 567 acquittals, making the conviction rate 28.13 per cent.
As per the data, highest number of PMLA cases were registered in 2021 and 2022, with 1,166 and 1,074 respectively.
Delhi recorded the highest number of 90 arrests under PMLA since 2016, including 36 in the first 7 months of the current year. A key arrest in 2024 is that of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Maharashtra follows with 43 arrests, West Bengal 42 and Rajasthan 24.
States and union territories like Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Ladakh, Lakshadweep and Puducherry have not seen any arrests under the PMLA.
