New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered as many as 193 cases, including those under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), against current and former MPs, MLAs, MLCs, political leaders and those affiliated with political parties in the last 10 years.
According to data cited in the Rajya Sabha Tuesday, only two convictions have been recorded in these cases since 2015—one from a case registered in 2016 and the other in 2019. So far, there have been no acquittals in any other cases.
Pankaj Chaudhary, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, shared the data while responding to questions by Rajya Sabha member from Kerala, A.A. Rahim.
The data showed that the highest number of such cases, 32, was lodged between April 2022 and March 2023. The second highest number of cases, 27, was lodged between April 2020 and March 2021, and April 2023 and March 2024. As many as 26 such cases were registered in 2019-2020 and 2021-2022.
Rahim had wanted to know the number of ED cases registered against MPs and MLAs and local administration members in the past 10 years, the number of cases that ended in convictions and acquittals, and those still under investigation, year-wise.
He had also asked if there has been an increase in ED cases filed against opposition leaders in recent years, and if so, the justification for this trend and if the government has undertaken any reforms to improve the transparency and efficiency of ED investigations.
Chaudhary, while responding, stated that data on ED cases against MPs, MLAs and local administrators and their parties, state-wise, is not maintained.
The minister also stated that no information is available on whether there has been an increase in cases filed by the ED in recent years.
The Directorate of Enforcement, a premier law enforcement agency, enforces the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) and Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 (FEOA).
“ED takes up the cases for investigation based on credible evidence/material and does not distinguish between cases based on political affiliations, religion or otherwise. Further, the actions of ED are always open to judicial review. The agency is accountable to different judicial forums viz. Adjudicating Authority, Appellate Tribunal, Special Courts, High Courts and Supreme Court for the actions taken in the course of implementation of the PMLA, FEMA, and FEOA,” the ministry said.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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