ED initiated 6,444 cases since 2014; secured convictions in 53 out of 56 on merits: Government to Parliament

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has initiated 6,444 money laundering investigations since 2014 and secured convictions in 53 cases out of the 56 cases that were decided on merits by courts, the Union Finance Ministry informed the parliament on Monday.

Responding to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary stated that special courts under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) have delivered 56 judgments on merits between April 1, 2014 and November 30, 2025. Out of those, 53 resulted in conviction orders involving 121 accused persons.

The calculation given in the reply placed the conviction rate at 94.64 per cent for cases decided on merits.

Investigations Initiated

Since the financial year 2014-15, the ED and Income Tax Department (ITD) have filed thousands of cases.

• The Enforcement Directorate (ED) recorded a total of 6,444 cases known as Enforcement Case Information Reports (ECIRs) to initiate investigations under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

• The ITD filed a cumulative total of 13,877 prosecution cases.

Year-wise Case Trends

The filing of new cases has fluctuated but has been on the rise since 2014:

• ED ECIRs saw a massive increase, peaking at 1,116 in 2021-22, a substantial rise from the 181 recorded in 2014-15.

• ITD Prosecution Cases experienced their highest volume in 2017-18 with 4,527 cases filed compared to 669 in 2014-15.

The data on search and seizure operation reads thus:

• The ED conducted a total of 11,106 searches between 2014-15 and November 2025. The number of searches exploded from only 46 in 2014-15 to 2,600 in 2023-24, and 2,267 up to November 2025.

• The ITD conducted 9,657 group searches over the same period with a high of 1,437 in 2024-25.

Prosecution and Conviction Outcomes

Enforcement Directorate (PMLA)

The ED has been active in moving cases to court.

• A total of 2,416 prosecution complaints (including supplementary complaints) have been filed.

• These complaints name a massive 16,404 persons/entities.

• The ED also reported a remarkably high conviction rate in cases decided on merits. Out of 56 judgments delivered on merits by Special PMLA Courts between April 1, 2014 and November 30 this year, 53 resulted in conviction orders.

• This means the conviction rate stands at 94.64%, with 121 accused being convicted.

The ITD has seen a total of 522 cases convicted, 963 cases acquitted, and 3,345 cases withdrawn since 2014-15.

The Ministry noted that these outcomes (conviction, acquittal, or withdrawal) may pertain to cases filed in different years, meaning they are not directly correlated with the number of cases filed in the specific year they are reported.

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