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Enforcement Directorate (ED) Director Rahul Navin addresses the celebration of ED Day, in New Delhi on Thursday. (ANI Photo)
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ANI
Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Thursday has highlighted two legal hurdles affecting its action against proceeds of crimes. The agency said that it has issued 461 provisional attachment orders valued at over ₹30,000 crore and restitution of over ₹15,000 crore in FY25.
In its annual report for FY 25, the agency said that while the total value of proceeds of crime (PoC) attached by the ED during 2012-13 and 2024-25 was over ₹1.54 lakh crore, the value confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority was over ₹1.06 lakh crore. The gap is primarily attributable to legal impediments currently under judicial consideration, it said. ED is a multi-disciplinary organisation mandated with investigation of offence of money laundering and violations of foreign exchange laws and works under the Finance Ministry.
“Two significant legal issues have led to widespread litigation and consequent stays on proceedings before the Adjudicating Authority. The first concerns the question of coram non judice, i.e., whether confirmation orders can be validly passed by a Single Member in the absence of a full quorum of the Adjudicating Authority, particularly in cases where no judicial member is present,” it said. This issue has led to stays in over 100 matters across High Courts and the Supreme Court, thereby freezing PoC worth ₹3,803.91 crore, it added.
The second legal hurdle relates to the interpretation of the 180-day time limit for confirmation of provisional attachment orders during extraordinary situations like the COVID-19 lockdowns. “A batch of 119 petitions before the Delhi High Court and similar matters pending before the Supreme Court involve PoC worth ₹49,620 crore,” the agency said.
The report was released on the occasion of 69th Foundation Day of ED by the Minister of State in the Finance Ministry, Pankaj Chaudhary. On this occasion he said that as India is marching towards achieving the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, the nature of the economy and economic activities will also change, and complexities will also increase, which might result in evolution of the nature of economic crimes. “The vision of a developed India inherently includes the vision of a secure India. The contribution of the Enforcement Directorate will be extremely important in an economically secure India,” the Minister added.
In his address Rahul Navin, Director of ED, informed that during 2014 to 2024, with 5,113 new PMLA investigations were initiated averaging more than 500 cases per year. He highlighted that in FY 25, 775 new PMLA investigations were launched, 333 Prosecution Complaints were filed, leading to 34 individual convictions.
During the last fiscal, Navin said that ED has issued 461 provisional attachment orders valued at ₹30,036 crore – a 44 per cent increase in the number of attachments and a striking 141 per cent rise in their total value compared to the previous year. He also apprised the gathering that with the approval of the courts, restitution of ₹15,261 crore was done in 30 cases during F.Y. 2024-25 and this process is likely to accelerate in FY2025-26.
“The ED has filed 333 prosecution complaints last year, taking the total cases under various stage of trial to 1,739 as on 31st March, 2025; and of the 47 cases decided so far, there have been only 3 acquittals, yielding a commendable conviction rate of 93.6 per cent,” he added.
Published on May 1, 2025
This article first appeared on The Hindu Business Line
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