Only 3% PMLA cases have been against politicians: Enforcement Directorate

Probe agency registered 5,906 cases under the criminal from 2005 till Jan 2023, its data shows

Only 3 per cent of all the cases filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) — it came into effect from July 2005 — have been against politicians, the probe agency has revealed.
 
The data pertains to the period starting from 2005 to January 2023, which covers both United Progressive Alliance I and II and the nine years of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government. The data is in contrast to the popular belief that successive governments have been misusing the ED and other premier agencies to settle political scores.
 
According to the data, till January 2023, ED has filed 5,906 cases, of which 176 or 3 per cent have been against existing and former Members of Parliament and legislators of state Assemblies, etc.
 
Searches have been conducted in 531 cases, which comprise 9 per cent of the overall cases, filed under criminal law. Search warrants, however, were issued in 4,954 cases as each case involved multiple searches, the data suggested.
 
ED enforces two laws, PMLA and the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
 
The ED data further showed that attachment orders had been issued in altogether 1,919 cases, amounting to properties worth Rs 1.15 trillion till January.
 
So far, the agency has also launched prosecution in 1,142 cases and arrested 513 people. As many as 45 accused have been convicted under the anti-money laundering laws.
 
PMLA is a criminal law that gives the officers concerned power to conduct enquiries to locate, provisionally attach or confiscate assets derived from acts of scheduled offences, besides arresting and prosecuting money launderers. FEMA is a civil law for violation of foreign exchange (forex) rules.
 
Opposition and political parties have been accusing the agency and the BJP government of targeting them. However, the government and the ED have repeatedly denied the allegations and said that the latter’s action is non-political and stems from cases first registered by other agencies or the state police.
 
Recently, three chief ministers belonging to Opposition parties had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemning the arrest of former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in connection with the liquor scam case.
 
The letter highlighted several incidents of central agencies, such as the Central Bureau of Investigation and the ED, of allegedly targeting Opposition leaders to diminish their credibility in the public eye.
 
The data concerning forex matters showed that the ED has initiated investigation into 33,988 cases, of which over 16,000 cases had been disposed of under FEMA.
 
The agency has issued 8,440 show cause notices and adjudicated 6,847 cases under the forex Act.
 
Other than these, in the relatively new Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, the ED has booked a total of 15 cases and declared as many as nine fugitive offenders. The agency has also attached properties amounting to Rs 862 crore in fugitive cases. The 2018 Act provides for measures to deter fugitive offenders from evading the process of law in India by staying outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts, to preserve the sanctity of rule of law in India, and for related or incidental matters.