For maintaining law and order in the country, there are a plethora of agencies in India. However, not every agency does its job as efficiently as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) does. The Economic Intelligence Agency has been at the forefront of the war against corruption.
ED’s crackdown on political corruption
If any agency can be credited for curbing the menace of white-collar crimes in India, then it is ED. Over the last few years, it has shown no hesitance in capturing the big fish increasing economic inequality in India. The agency, composed of heavyweight officers of India’s most coveted administrative posts, has shown no mercy to any politician, whether they are in opposition or are the main part of the existing government. Moreover, it has also been one of the effective factors in curbing Chinese investments in India.
The list of ED’s fearless actions is quite long. The most prominent and probably most courageous one is its probe of Karti Chidambaram. It is alleged that Karti, son of former Home Minister P Chidambaram accepted the bribe of ₹ 50 lakhs for clearing the visa of 300 Chinese nationals. ED showed no agency in booking Karti.
Investigations on MVA and Mamata leaders
Karti is not the only politically privileged personality under CBI’s radar. Currently, ED is actively probing Sanjay Raut for allegedly committing irregularities in a redevelopment project. Meanwhile, his coalition counterparts Anil Parab, Ajit Pawar and Nawab Malik are also under ED’s scanner. Both Parab and Pawar are subject to the investigation in a money laundering case.
In February this year, Nawab Malik was arrested on charges levelled up by BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis in November last year. Former CM alleged Malik of underworld links. The allegations suggest that the property was bought by Malik from Dawood’s aide at a much lower price than the market. Meanwhile, Raut got so frustrated with the precision and detailing of ED officers that he accused them of running an extortion racket.
In West Bengal, ED nabbed the ‘prince of state’. Abhishek Banerjee and his wife Rujira had been directed to appear in Delhi office of Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a case related to the coal scam in West Bengal. The Banerjees are accused of benefiting immensely from an alleged 1900 crore worth of coal scam. Even after Banerjee appointing Sibbal to fight his case and invoking the women card in Court, ED was successful in not letting him escape from the clutches of law.
ED has a long list of achievements
Here are some other big fishes ED Has been able to nab.
- In Kashmir, ED got hold of the all-important Abdullah family of state. Currently, Farooq Abdullah is subject to public humiliation as ED continues its probe.
- DK Shiv Kumar, Congress heavyweight of Karnataka is also being charged under Money laundering act. He is currently out on bail, while ED is tightening its noose on him.
- On May 6, 2022, the coveted Enforcement Directorate raided 20 locations allegedly linked to close aides of the Jharkhand Chief Minister
- Satyendra Jain, a minister on AAP’s allegedly Corruption free government was recently arrested by ED on money laundering charges
ED is strengthening national security as well
Not just politicians, ED has also cracked down on the flow of money which was being utilised in compromising India’s sovereignty. ED sources in its report has unearthed that Xiaomi had not complied with the regulatory mandate for disclosure of transactions with associated enterprises. Such lapse makes them liable for action. Reportedly, Xiaomi has made remittances, which aggregate to more than a thousand crore rupees, in the nature of royalty, to and on behalf of its group companies located abroad. For contravening FEMA, 1999, ED seized ₹ 5551.27 crore from Xiaomi.
Read more: After India’s action against Xiaomi, China sings songs of obedience and compliance
In April this year, ED attached 16 properties of bureaucrats, officials and staff involved in the Fake Arms Licence issuance case. Arms Quota reserved for Army personnel were misappropriated and sold to “non-entitled” persons which could’ve been a security risk. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted a search operation at 11 places on 24th March simultaneously, including the residential areas of IAS official Rajeev Ranjan and JKAS officials Itrat Hussain Rafiqui, Ravinder Kumar Bhatt. During search operations, many incriminating shreds of evidence linking transactions for fake arms licences were found. The ED is probing the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) on the FIR registered by CBI earlier.
Similarly, ED tightened its noose on Popular Front of India (PFI) as well. According to a June 12 report by Business Standard, ED is currently investigating 33 accounts related to PFI and Rehab India Foundation. Combinedly, the 68 lakh amount is part of the money laundering probe.
ED is proactive. ED does not listen to political pressures. ED is free of political affiliations.More importantly, ED is not a ‘caged parrot’. It is true that the agency is made up of the best of the bests. However, it does not mean that it is beyond the reach of other agencies to take such officers on board. If they cannot take them, then they should start training their officers on such lines.
