Sitharaman praises ED; Congress differs, mocks agency's low conviction rate

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's staunch defense of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for successfully restoring properties of fugitives valued at ₹22,280 crores to public and private banks has raised eyebrows considering the agency's low conviction rate, said news reports.

On Tuesday (December 17), Sitharaman told the Lok Sabha, "In money laundering cases, the ED has successfully restored properties valued at ₹22,280 crore."

"We have not spared anyone, even if they fled the country. We’ve gone after them. ED has collected this money and given it back to the banks. So, it is important to recognise that we have not spared anybody (who committed) economic offences. We are after them. We will be making sure that money, which has got to go back to banks, will go back,” Sitharaman said.

Also read: ED restores properties worth ₹22,280 crore to banks, legitimate claimants: Sitharaman

However, just last week, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala had got answers to a Parliament question on the ED's performance. According to Surjewala, the ED's conviction rate has been very low, less than five per cent over the past five years.

Surjewala had said that the Parliament’s answer to his question had showed that ED had filed more than 900 cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act from 2019 to 2023.

Witch hunting

But only a pathetic 42 cases (i.e., 4.6 per cent) have resulted in convictions, he asserted. This was proof of the Bharatiya Janata Party's "witch hunt" against Opposition leaders and how they used agencies like the ED to file false charges against rival parties and politicians, he said.

Earlier, in a post on X, he had shared that in the last five years, the ED’s conviction rate has not crossed 5 per cent. Out of 911 cases filed under PMLA, only 42 (4.6 per cent) cases have resulted in convictions, he said.

The Congress MP said that of the 911 cases, just 257 or 28 per cent of cases could reach trial stage, while 654 or 71.7 per cent cases remained pending for five years, proving that it is nothing but “blatant witch hunting.”

“In the last five years under the NDA government, 911 cases were filed, while in the entire 10 years of the UPA government, only 102 cases were filed. This shows a wholesome misuse of ED!, “ he added in his post on X.

ED restores properties to banks, claimants

On Tuesday (December 17) Sitharaman had told Parliament that properties worth nearly ₹23,000 crore belonging to fugitives who have fled India have been seized and returned to public and private banks. She also disclosed that over 2 lakh assesses have declared their foreign assets in Income Tax Returns this fiscal.

Properties belonging to Vijaya Mallya, valued at ₹14131.6 crore, were restored and complete amount of attached properties has been successfully restored to the public sector banks, she said while replying to debate on the first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants in the Lok Sabha.

As regards the Nirav Modi case, she said, properties to the tune of ₹1,052.58 crore have been restored to PSBs and private banks. In the Mehul Choksi case, properties worth ₹2,565.90 crore have been attached and will be auctioned.

Mallya, the primary accused in a bank loan default case, fled India in 2016. Nirav Modi is wanted by Indian authorities for defrauding the Punjab National Bank.

A sum of ₹17.5 crore in a National Spot Exchange Ltd case was also restored, the minister had said.