Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 Section 44: Offences Triable by Special Court (2026)

Explainer · Criminal Law · PMLA

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

Section 44 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) decides where and how a money laundering case is tried. The offence under Section 3 is tried by a Special Court, which is a Sessions Court designated for the purpose under Section 43. The case is started not by a police chargesheet but by a complaint filed by an authorised officer of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Section 44 also deals with how the money laundering offence and the connected scheduled offence are tried together. This explainer sets out the forum, how a case begins, the joint-trial rule, and the key case law. Last verified October 2026.

01The short point

A money laundering case is not tried by an ordinary Magistrate on a police chargesheet. It is tried by a Special Court, a designated Sessions Court, and it begins with a written complaint filed by the ED. Section 44 is the provision that sets up this route.

Section 44 also answers a practical question: what happens to the scheduled offence, the predicate crime, which may be investigated by the police or another agency. The idea is that the two can be tried by the same Special Court, so the connected matters do not run in different courts at cross purposes.

02What Section 44 says

Section 44 provides, in substance, that:

• the offence of money laundering, and the scheduled offence connected to it, are triable by the Special Court set up under Section 43;
• a PMLA case is taken cognizance of on a written complaint made by the Director or an authorised officer, not on a police report; and
• the Special Court can try the scheduled offence and the money laundering offence together, and where the scheduled offence is being tried elsewhere, that case can be committed or sent to the Special Court.

03The Special Court and the complaint

Under Section 43, the Central Government, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court, designates one or more Sessions Courts as Special Courts for PMLA trials. So a Special Court is a Sessions Court wearing a special hat, not a new kind of court.

The case is initiated by a complaint under Section 44(1)(b), filed by the ED after its investigation. This is different from an ordinary criminal case, where the police file a chargesheet. The complaint sets out the offence of money laundering and the material the ED relies on.

04Trying the two offences together

A money laundering case always has a predicate crime behind it, the scheduled offence. That scheduled offence may be investigated by the police, the CBI or another agency, and may be pending before another court.

Section 44 tries to avoid two courts deciding connected questions. The Special Court that tries the money laundering offence can also try the scheduled offence, and a scheduled-offence trial pending before another court can be committed to the Special Court. This keeps the proceeds-of-crime question in one place.

05Key case law

• Tarsem Lal v. Directorate of Enforcement (Supreme Court, 2024): the court held that when the Special Court takes cognizance of a PMLA complaint and issues a summons to an accused who was not arrested during the investigation, that person need not apply for bail or furnish a bail bond merely to appear. He can appear in answer to the summons.
• Dependence on the scheduled offence: courts have held, following Vijay Madanlal Choudhary (2022), that if the scheduled offence falls, the proceeds of crime and the money laundering case connected to it cannot survive. The two are linked.

These rulings ease some of the harshness around appearance and keep the money laundering case tied to its predicate crime.

06A practical note

If a Section 44 complaint is filed, a few things help:

• Know the court. The case will be before the designated Special Court, usually a Sessions Court, not a regular Magistrate.
• Appearing on summons. After Tarsem Lal, an unarrested accused summoned by the Special Court can appear without first seeking bail or a bond.
• Watch the scheduled offence. The fate of the predicate crime can decide the fate of the PMLA case.

For the full flow of a PMLA matter, see how a PMLA case works in practice. This explainer is general information, not legal advice.

07Where Claw fits

Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.

A Section 44 case sits before a designated Special Court, with a connected scheduled offence often running on its own track. Claw tracks cases, orders and hearings across 9,102 courts, benches and forums, so you can follow both the PMLA complaint before the Special Court and the predicate case in another court by party or advocate name, and never miss a date. When you need the law on cognizance, summons or the scheduled-offence link, it searches more than 30 crore judgments, with Supreme Court rulings from 1950 and High Court rulings from 1990, and answers in under 5 seconds.

Your case papers are never used to train the AI models behind Claw. Create a free Claw account to track a Special Court matter and research Section 44 rulings, and use case search across Indian courts for the wider law.

08Sources and further reading

• India Code (official text of the PMLA, 2002): indiacode.nic.in
• Enforcement Directorate (official): enforcementdirectorate.gov.in
• PRS Legislative Research (PMLA background): prsindia.org
• Claw: clawlaw.in

This explainer is general information, not legal advice. PMLA law is fast moving, so check the current provisions and the latest rulings, and take advice from counsel before you act.

09Frequently asked questions