ED leads finance ministry pack, but conviction rates offer cold comfort

The finance ministry houses a dozen or so investigative agencies but the large pendency of cases in various courts and tribunals raises questions about where their efforts are headed

One of the lesser-known facts about the Finance Ministry is that it oversees at least about a dozen investigative agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Financial Intelligence Unit—India (FIU-Ind), the Directorate General of Goods and Service Tax Intelligence (DGGI), the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and the Serious Fraud Investigations Office (SFIO), among others.

 

What sets the ED apart from the others at the stage of prosecution is that it is the only investigative agency that can investigate and enforce the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), leading other agencies to ask for similar