ED cases against opposition candidates up four-fold under NDA government

Out of the total 121 cases against politicians under Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe currently, 115 or 95 per cent are against Opposition leaders

The cases filed against opposition leaders have grown four-fold since 2014, under the NDA government. Out of the 121 cases against politicians under Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe currently, 115 or 95 per cent are against Opposition leaders, a report by in Indian Express (IE) showed. 

Six out of the 124 cases are against BJP leaders, the report added. 

The pattern is similar to that of the CBI. In the last 18 years, over 200 opposition politicians were probed by the CBI. These were nearly 80 per cent of all the CBI cases in the period. 

During the NDA-II government, that came into power in 2019, the top three parties in terms of leaders being probed were Congress, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC), and Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). 

24 Congress leaders, 19 TMC politicians and 11 NCP politicians are being probed currently. 

The rise in cases filed with the ED was attributed to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). It was revised in 2005 with new, more stringent rules. Under the new provisions, ED can arrest, attach assets, and make a statement recorded in front of the investigation officer admissible in the court as evidence, IE stated. 

Under the current NDA-II government, the report added, at least six family members of the key Congress politicians are under ED lens. 

An official told IE that the cases are admitted after proper scrutiny and the chargesheets are being taken cognizance of by the courts. 

Out of the 21 cases registered under PMLA, 18 have seen convictions. The official also added that the accused were unable to secure bail because "the courts were not convinced of their innocence".