How ED changed under NDA: Arrests up 2500%, convictions at 63 vs O in UPA years

Representative image. PTI

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has made headlines far more times than one can remember. The central probe agency, which was earlier little heard of, has released comparative data that indicates how its effectiveness has increased by a whopping 2,500 per cent in the last decade.

The ED, powered by the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of 2002, has worked more proactively under the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) than it did under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

A number of politicians and other individuals have come under the ED scanner in the last 10 years, with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal being its latest noteworthy target. Kejriwal, who is currently imprisoned in Tihar jail, was arrested by ED on March 21 over the alleged Delhi Excise Policy scam.

It is important to note that although PMLA was enacted in 2002, its provisions came into effect only in 2005. Therefore, all money laundering cases were initiated post-2005, a year after the UPA government came to power.

What does the data show?

The central probe agency arrested 2,500 per cent more people in the last decade while 63 individuals were convicted in money laundering cases as compared to none under the erstwhile government, the ED data shows according to Times of India.

ED registered 1,797 money laundering cases under the PMLA during the UPA government rule while 5,155 such cases were initiated during NDA’s rule.

In terms of chargesheets, which are filed when the agency concludes its investigation in a case and prima facie establishes charges against an individual or a group, the ED filed 1,281 such complaints under the NDA as compared to a mere 102 under UPA.

Meanwhile, the probe agency conducted 7,300 between 2014-2024 searches against 84 between 2005-2014. The number of people arrested saw a massive jump from 29 to 755.

The UPA government did not see the confiscation of any asset while the agency confiscated assets worth Rs 15,710 crore in the past decade.

Does ED only target opposition leaders?

The Opposition has time and again made the ED and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) a central point of their argument against BJP’s governance.

However, ED asserts that only 2.98 per cent of their cases are against sitting or former MPs and MLAs even as its conviction rate under the anti-money laundering law is at a high of 96 per cent.

As per data released by the agency last year, ED filed a total of 176 Enforcement Case Information Reports (ECIRs), equivalent to a police FIR, against existing and ex-MPs, MLAs and MLCs which comes to 2.98 per cent of the total 5,906 such complaints filed since the law came into being.