ED has registered 193 cases against politicians since 2015: Finance Ministry

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has registered 193 cases against current and former MPs, MLAs, MLCs, political leaders, and individuals affiliated with political parties in the past 10 years.

This information was given by the Ministry of Finance and Revenue to the Parliament, during its ongoing Budget Session.

Replying to a query by Member of Parliament (MP) from Kerala AA Rahim, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and Revenue, Pankaj Chaudhary, said the national agency managed to secure two convictions during the given period.

The Kerala MP asked the Ministry about the number of ED cases filed against MPs, MLAs, and local administration members in the past 10 years, categorised by the party, state, and year, along with year-wise data over convictions, acquittals and pending investigations against the same.

He further sought details on whether a probe was into the rise in cases against opposition leaders and justification for the trend.

The Kerala MP also asked the Ministry to provide information about the reforms implemented by the government to enhance transparency and efficiency in ED investigations.

Responding to the first question, MoS Chaudhary said no partywise and statewise data was maintained of ED cases registered against the MPs, MLAs and local administrators.

The Minister, however, provided the year-wise details of cases against the existing and former MPs, MLAs, MLCs and political leaders or anyone affiliated with any political party during the last 10 years.

He said maximum cases (32) were registered during the period between April 2022 to March 2023. Out of 193 cases registered in the past 10 years by ED, only two resulted in convictions. There have been no acquittals yet.

Regarding the possible increase in ED cases against opposition leaders in recent years and the justification for this trend, MoS Chaudhary said that no such data was maintained.

Replying to the fourth question, the Minister said the national agency takes up cases for investigation only based on credible evidence and material and did not distinguish cases based on political affiliations, religion or otherwise. The actions initiated by ED were always open to judicial review, he added.

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