NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday told the Supreme Court that till date it has attached properties worth over Rs 98,000 crore, which are proceeds of crime, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) but admitted that the rate of conviction is low under the law.
Explaining to a bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar, D Maheshwari and CT Ravikumar the ED’s effectiveness through PMLA to return to the banks substantial amounts recovered from attached assets of from big fraudsters, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said, “The proceeds of crime of Rs 98,368 crore were identified and attached under Section 5 of the PMLA.”
“Out of the so attached assets, Rs 55,899 crore worth assets have been confirmed by the adjudicating authority as proceeds of crime and substantial part of the attached proceeds of crime are still under adjudication. Proceeds of crime of Rs 853.16 crore have already been confiscated to the government under the orders of competent courts,” the SG said.
As many as 242 petitions (involving Rs 67,104 crore) filed by high-profile PMLA accused have challenged the width and unwarranted stringency of the legislation, claiming that it violated the fundamental rights of citizens. They also claimed that PMLA is being used to wreak vengeance against political opponents.
Mehta tried to dispel this impression by arguing that though the PMLA came into force from July 1, 2005, the actual process of filing prosecution complaints started from 2012-13. Till date, prosecution complaints have been filed in 930 cases and only 21 accused convicted under PMLA, the ED admitted.
“Only in one case, six accused were discharged under the PMLA on merit whereas in remaining 24 cases, accused were discharged because they were discharged under the predicate offence. Thus it is clear from these data that accused in 24 cases were not discharged on merit of PMLA case but as a sequel to their discharge in scheduled offences,” the ED said while presenting the data through advocate Kanu Agrawal.
Investigation into 57 cases of terror and naxal financing has resulted in identification of Rs 1,249 crore as proceeds of crime. ED has attached 242 properties worth Rs 982 crore, including those of Hafiz Mohammad Sayeed (UN-designated terrorist), Syed Salahuddin (head of Hijbul Mujahideen) and Iqbal Mirchi, and filed 37 prosecution complaints, the SG said.
Mehta said PMLA proceedings have been very effective against three big fugitive fraudsters —Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, who cumulatively defrauded the banks of Rs 22,585 crore. He said ED had attached assets worth Rs 19,111 crore of the three fugitives, of which 15,113 crore worth assets have been returned to the defrauded banks, including Rs 7975 crore to SBI.
He said the government has also confiscated the troikas assets worth Rs 335 crore.
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