NEW DELHI: There have been just two convictions in 193 cases filed by Enforcement Directorate against political netas in the last 10 years, the finance ministry informed Parliament.
Junior finance minister Pankaj Chaudhary said on Tuesday in a written reply in Rajya Sabha that the highest number of cases (32) were filed between April 1, 2022, and March 31, 2023. One conviction came in 2016-2017 while the other was in 2019-2020.
“Data of ED cases registered against MPs, MLAs and local administrators, along with their party, state-wise is not maintained,” Chaudhary said in his reply. He was responding to a question from Rajya Sabha MP A A Rahim.
The minister said ED was a premier law enforcement agency that was entrusted with administration and enforcement of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, Foreign Exchange Management Act and Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.
“ED takes up cases for probe based on credible evidence/material and doesn’t distinguish cases based on political affiliations, religion or otherwise,” Chaudhary said. He added that ED’s actions were always open to judicial review and it was accountable to different judicial forums.