New Enforcement Directorate chief S.K. Mishra tells his officers to probe cases purely ‘on merit’, warns them against leaks or plants in the media.
New Delhi: New Enforcement Directorate chief S.K. Mishra has asked his officers to work to “restore the credibility of the institution” that is seen as a “tool of harassment” in the hands of the BJP-led government, ThePrint has learnt.
In a series of meetings that Mishra held after joining office on 26 October, he told his officers heading different teams that the cases are to be investigated purely “on merit”.
According to sources, during these meetings, Mishra gave out the impression that the institution had suffered immense damage in the recent past, which now needs to be repaired and it can only be done by a concerted effort.
The sources said, in the meetings that were attended by all senior functionaries of the agency, Mishra clarified that the investigation in ongoing cases should not be stretched, names of suspects should not be leaked and evidence should be treated as sacrosanct.
Mishra is also believed to have told his officers to expedite investigations and aim to dispose of cases at the earliest. This, he conveyed, needs to be done so that the agency is not accused of delaying investigations and seen as a tool of harassment.
In the past 13 years, the ED, which is an agency investigating financial fraud, has managed just three convictions under the Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) Act, 2005. And even these involve relatively smaller amounts — in the range of Rs 3 lakh-Rs 4 crore.
All three convictions have come in the past two years — the first one in January 2017, 12 years after the PMLA was enacted.
Also read: Nirav Modi needn’t worry. ED has a terrible record nailing money laundering
‘No leaks, no plants’
Mishra, who has virtually locked out the media, has also directed his officers to ensure there are no “leaks” or “plants” in newspapers or news channels on any of the cases being investigated by the agency.
It is learnt that Mishra has told his officers to not speak to any mediaperson regarding any case.
Currently, the agency does not have any official spokesperson and the media is being handled by Mishra’s personal secretary.
Mishra is a 1984 Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer who is said to be close to Nripendra Mishra, principal secretary to Prime Minister Modi.
Before he was posted as the ED chief, Mishra was in the CC-4 (Chief Commissioner) division in the income tax department and has investigated high-profile cases such as the National Herald case, the case against BSP supremo Mayawati and the one involving NDTV.
the real question is how was this person appointed. Because he was close to someone. If so this is one more jumla
Praiseworthy. It would be a good idea for the Directorate to have an official spokesperson who can brief the media from time to time, or take questions on the progress of important cases. This culture of sheafs of classified documents making their way to friendly channels is harming both journalism and the credibility of investigative processes.