The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is a central agency working directly under the Ministry of Finance, tasked with investigating and enforcing laws related to financial offenses. Its origin goes back to 1 May, 1956, when an Enforcement Unit was formed in the Department of Economic Affairs for handling Exchange Control Laws violations under Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947. The following year, this Unit was renamed as Enforcement Directorate.
The ED’s mandate encompasses investigating offenses under significant legislative frameworks such as the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Foreign Exchange Management Act of 1999 (FEMA), and the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act of 2018 (FEOA). The agency investigates individuals and entities involved in financial wrongdoing. This may include tracing illicit funds, seizing assets acquired through illegal means, and prosecuting offenders to ensure accountability and deterrence.
Headquartered in New Delhi, the ED operates through a network of regional offices in Mumbai, Chennai, Chandigarh, Kolkata.
The ED is itself neck deep in corruption. How is it supposed to investigate and prosecute the corrupt?
Most, if not all, ED officers are corrupt and willing to botch up investigations in exchange for “gifts” of all kinds.
The root cause of the issue is that the ED is not accountable to anyone. It does whatever it feels like.
The ED has always been an utterly corrupt organisation. Most officials working with ED engage in all sorts of unethical practices and end up making fortunes. The fact that the ED is practically accountable to none adds to their brazenness. They think of themselves as the Lords of everything they lay eyes on.
The free reins given by the Modi government to the ED to selectively hound and harass it’s political opponents, has made it a den of corruption and unscrupulous activities.
In the cases of of corruption, it is only the tip of the iceberg that comes above the surface. The bigger chunk remans under the surface and never comes to light. Blame it on Modi’s misuse of ED for such a situation.