New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday (August 7) asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to focus on quality prosecution and evidence, while citing low conviction rate in cases of money laundering.
The Supreme Court made the observations after the Centre informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday (August 6) that out of 5,297 cases lodged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), convictions were secured in only 40 cases, reported the Press Trust of India.
While hearing the bail plea of the Chhattisgarh-based businessman accused of money laundering, the three-judge bench of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta, and Ujjal Bhuyan said in order to increase the conviction rate, the ED should do some scientific investigation.
“You need to concentrate on the quality of prosecution and evidence. All the cases where you are satisfied that a prima facie case is made out, you need to establish those cases in the court,” the bench told Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, who was appearing for the ED, reported PTI.
“In this case, you are harping on the statements given by some witnesses, affidavits. This kind of oral evidence… this type of oral evidence, tomorrow, God knows that person will stand by it or not. You should do some scientific investigation,” the bench added.
On Tuesday (August 6), in a written reply in the Lok Sabha, MoS Home Nityanand Rai in response to a question by AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi presented data for cases registered under PMLA from 2014 to 2024 as per information received from the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
A total of 5,297 cases have been registered under the PMLA from 2014 to 2024, while only 40 cases have seen convictions and 3 acquitted, the data shows.
