India should enhance judicial capacity and decrease pending trials: FATF

• India’s Financial Action Task Force (FATF) report suggests reducing pending trials in money laundering cases by increasing court system capacity and Enforcement Directorate (ED) capacity.
• The conviction rate stands at 97%, but constitutional challenges to PMLA provisions have halted trials.
• During the check period, 4,163 investigations were initiated, 132 dropped, and 28 convictions were secured by the ED.
• The FATF noted challenges to ED powers under PMLA, which impacted their investigations and prosecutions.
• The report also noted a saturation of the judicial system due to a limited number of specialized prosecutors and special court judges.
• Despite legal challenges, India has achieved high technical compliance across FATF recommendations.
• The report also highlights India’s serious terrorism and terror financing threats, including related to Islamic State or al Qaeda.