Parliament Watch: 95% conviction rate in completed PMLA cases; 1,160 pieces of fake news on government busted by PIB

The 2023 Budget Session of Indian Parliament on Tuesday saw questions answered on cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), prosecutions by the Income Tax Department, and preventive detention..Punjab Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha sought to know the numbers of convictions and arrests made under PMLA in the past five years. He also sought to know the number of pending cases and asked whether the government was planning to undertake measures to address the low conviction rate under the Act..The Finance Ministry in its reply revealed that 32 accused have been convicted under PMLA during the last five years. Of these, 12 convictions have been recorded in the current Financial Year (FY) up to January 31, 2023. The year-wise details are as follows: .It is pertinent to note that since the PMLA came into force in 2005, trial has been completed only for 36 accused. As on December 31, 2022, trials in 1,055 cases were still pending across PMLA courts in the country.The reply further revealed that 354 arrests have been made under the Act in the last five years..On whether the government was planning to undertake measures the tackle the low conviction rate under the Act, the reply stated that as on date (till January 31, 2023), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has secured 22 conviction orders in which 36 accused have been convicted. One order of acquittal has been challenged before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.Thus, the percentage of conviction in PMLA cases is 95.65%, the reply stated. "There are few cases wherein proceedings under PMLA could not proceed further due to quashing of the predicate offences investigated by Law Enforcement Agencies," the Ministry added..To a question by Maharashtra Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desai, the Finance Ministry revealed that over the past five years, the Income Tax Department has launched 9,633 prosecutions. Of these, 9,265 were launched between April 2017 and March 2020..Year-wise prosecutions from FY 2017-18 to FY 2021-22 are as follows:.Kerala Rajya Sabha MP P Sandosh Kumar sought from the Ministry of AYUSH the list of Ayurvedic pharmaceutical companies that have violated the norms of the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act since 2020 and the details of the necessary disciplinary actions taken against them..Minister of AYUSH Sarbananda Sonowal, revealed that 1,248 companies across 10 states had violated the norms of the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act since 2020. Of these, 1,020 violations were reported in Karnataka..The state-wise details are as follows:.Kerala Lok Sabha MPs K Muraleedharan and Benny Benaham, among other things, sought details of complaints received and action taken by the government under the Press Information Bureau (PIB) fact check initiative since inception, year-wise..Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Singh Thakur revealed that since its inception, the PIB has encountered over 37,000 complaints and has busted 1,160 cases of fake news relating to the Central government. The year-wise details are as follows:.Andhra Pradesh Lok Sabha MP Jayadev Galla sought to know from the Home Ministry the number of preventive detention laws in the country, the number of persons detained and convicted under them, and whether the government aimed to reduce arrests under these laws..According to the Ministry, preventive detention legislation is enacted by both the Central and state governments, detention orders are issued by authorities including district and state authorities, and that data on the same is not kept centrally with the Ministry..Corrigendum: This article initially mentioned that the conviction rate in cases under the PMLA was 95% for cases from January 31, 2023. The error is regretted.