New Delhi, Jan 13 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate on Sunday said it will be able to "significantly accelerate" trials in money laundering cases with the recent notification of special PMLA courts in various states.

"In Telangana, a total of 16 special courts have now been notified, including two for Visakhapatnam. In Rajasthan, the number of such courts has been increased from one (earlier only at Jaipur) to five, including one for Jodhpur," the federal probe agency said in a statement.

In Goa, it said, an exclusive special court to initiate trials in criminal cases registered and probed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has been notified in North Goa.

Till now, there was only one such special court for Goa, the ED said.

The courts have been notified in those states where the number of such judicial forums were "inadequate" leading to "delays" in trial proceedings, according to the ED.

"With the addition of these special courts, the Directorate (ED) will be able to significantly accelerate trial proceedings in PMLA cases," it said.

"This initiative is also expected to address the concerns of the Constitutional courts regarding delays in money laundering trials," the agency said. PTI NES DV DV

PMLA trial acceleration intended to reduce delays and expand localised trial capacity for money laundering prosecutions. Notification of additional PMLA special courts expands designated judicial forums for trials under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in several jurisdictions, creating localised venues to initiate and conduct PMLA trials. The additions are intended to reduce backlog and geographic bottlenecks, improve case management and prosecutorial access to timely hearings, and mitigate delays that have drawn constitutional scrutiny so that money laundering prosecutions can proceed with greater expedition through expanded trial capacity.