Only two politicians under probe by the Enforcement Directorate have been convicted among the 193 politicians against whom cases were registered.
This what what junior finance minister Pankaj Chaudhary, responding to a question raised by an MP, informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply on Tuesday.
“The data of ED cases registered against MPs, MLAs, and local administrators along with their party, state-wise is not maintained,” Chaudhary wrote in his reply, which provided a year-wise break-up of the cases filed by the ED against politicians between April 1, 2015 and February 28, 2025.
The maximum cases, 32, were lodged in the 2022-23 fiscal year, followed by 27 in 2020-21 and 2023-24 and 26 each in 2019-20 and 2021-22.
Sourced by the correspondent
A scrutiny of the data submitted by the junior finance minister reveals a spike in the activities of the ED officials in the second term of the Narendra Modi government, specially with the Lok Sabha polls of 2024 approaching, when 59 cases were filed between 2022 and 2024.
In the break-up provided by the minister, one conviction took place in 2016-17 and the second one in 2019-20.
Over the last few years, several prominent Trinamool Congress leaders from Bengal like former education minister Partha Chatterjee, two of chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s closest aides Jyotipriya Mullick and Anubrata Mondal, and several other MLAs were arrested by the agency.
Except for Chatterjee, most of the others are out on bail. Trinamool general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was interrogated several times by the agency in connection with the allegef coal scam. The name of one Abhishek Banerjee also featured in the chargesheet filed by another central probe agency, the CBI, in the teachers’ recruitment scam in which Chatterjee is facing trial.
The CPM MP A.A. Rahim in his un-starred question 2007 had asked the finance ministry about the number of cases registered against MPs, MLAs and local administration in the last 10 years with the break-up of the states and parties, the number of convictions, and acquittals.
He had also asked if there was any increase in the number of cases filed by the ED against Opposition leaders in the last 10 years.
The minister said the agency had no information if there was any increase in the number of cases against Opposition leaders.
The national opposition parties have often dubbed central agencies like the ED and the CBI as the BJP’s washing machines.
A previous report by The Indian Express had said that 25 Opposition leaders had cases against them withdrawn after joining the BJP. The names include Bengal’s Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan and Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma among others. On the other hand, former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and others from the Aam Aadmi Party were jailed in connection with an alleged liquor scam.
Responding to another question by the CPM MP, on whether the government had taken any initiative to increase the agency’s efficiency, the minister replied: “The Directorate of Enforcement if a premier law enforcement agency of the government of India which has been entrusted with the administration and enforcement of Prevention of Money-laundering Act 2002, Foreign Exchange Management Act, 199 and Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018. ED takes up the cases for investigation based on credible evidence/ material and does not distinguish cases based on political affiliations, religion or otherwise. The actions of ED are always open to judicial review. The agency is accountable to different judicial forums.”
The Supreme Court, among the judicial bodies that the ED is accountable to, had last November commented on the low conviction rate of the agency during a hearing on Chatterjee’s bail plea and asked the agency to focus on prosecution. The apex court had asked how long a person can be kept under trial. It had also commented on the need for a uniform policy on arrests.