Enforcement Directorate

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) is a law enforcement agency and economic intelligence agency responsible for enforcing economic laws and fighting economic crime in India.[1] It is part of the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government Of India.[2] It is composed of officers from the Indian Revenue Service, Indian Police Service, and the Indian Administrative Service as well as promoted officers from its own cadre.

Enforcement Directorate
प्रवर्तन निदेशालय
Official emblem of Enforcement Directorate
Official emblem of Enforcement Directorate
AbbreviationED
Agency overview
Formed1 May 1956 (1956-05-01)
Legal personalityGovernment agency
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionIndia
Governing bodyGovernment of India
Constituting instruments
Operational structure
HeadquartersNew Delhi, India
Minister responsible
Agency executive
  • Sanjay Kumar Mishra, IRS, Director Enforcement
Parent agencyDepartment of Revenue, Ministry of Finance
Website
enforcementdirectorate.gov.in
Politics of India
Federal government
Legislature
Parliament of India

Executive
Judiciary
Elections
  • General elections
Political parties
National coalitions
Federalism
flag India portal

In July 2022, according to data shared by the union government in Parliament, only 23 people have been convicted in 5,422 cases registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)[3] in the 17 years after the law was passed, which is a conviction rate of less than 0.5%. Where as the national conviction rate in India for offences of the Indian Penal Code is 57.0% in 2021,[4]


The origin of the ED goes back to 1 May 1956, when an "enforcement unit" was formed, within the Department of Economic Affairs, for handling Exchange Control Laws violations under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947. In 1957, the unit was renamed as the Enforcement Directorate.[5] Sanjay Kumar Mishra former Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, New Delhi was appointed as ED chief in the rank of Secretary to Government of India, from October 2018.[6]

Objective

The prime objective of the Enforcement Directorate is the enforcement of two key Acts[7] of the Government of India namely, the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), and The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 (FEOA).

Organizational set up

The Directorate of Enforcement, with its headquarters at New Delhi, is headed by the director of enforcement. There are five regional offices at Mumbai, Chennai, Chandigarh, Kolkata, and Delhi headed by special directors of enforcement.

Zonal offices of the directorate are at Pune, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Kochi, Delhi, Panaji, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna, and Srinagar.[8] These are headed by a joint director.

The directorate has sub-zonal offices at Mangaluru, Bhubaneshwar, Kozhikode, Indore, Madurai, Nagpur, Allahabad, Raipur, Dehradun, Ranchi, Surat, Shimla, Vishakhapatnam and Jammu[8] which are headed by a deputy director.

Special courts

For the trial of an offence punishable under section 4 of PMLA, the Central Government (in consultation with the chief justice of the High Court), designates one or more Sessions Court as Special Court(s). The court is also called "PMLA Court". Any appeal against any order passed by PMLA court can directly be filed in the High Court for that jurisdiction.[9]

Criticism

In July 2022, according to data shared by the union government in Parliament, only 23 people have been convicted in 5,422 cases registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)[10] in the 17 years after the law was passed, which is a conviction rate of less than 0.5%. The cases by ED have gone up six times in Modi's second term, which led to accusations by opposition parties stating that ED is being misused by the BJP for their political ends.[11]

Main Law and Act Of ED

There are major law and act of ED:[12]

Foreign Exchange Management Act , 1999 ( FEMA )

Prevention Of Money Laundering Act , 2002 ( PMLA )

Fugitive Economic Offenders Act , 2018 ( FEOA )

Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA)

Internal Structure of the Organization

Directorate of Enforcement is having following hierarchy of the officers; Assistant Enforcement Officer-Enforcement Officer-Assistant Director-Deputy Director-Joint Director-Special Director-Director. However, with increasing workload and to adjust the hierarchical needs other designations like additional director are also introduced. Directorate recruits officers as Assistant Enforcement Officer (AEO). AEOs are promoted to various levels of hierarchy and serve the Directorate of Enforcement throughout their career however a large chunk of officers are taken on deputation at various level and they remain on temporary basis in ED for 2 to 5 years.

See also

References
  1. "Official Website". Archived from the original on 10 July 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  2. "ED (Enforcement Directorate)". Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. Archived from the original on 7 April 2018.
  3. "Only 23 convicted in 5,422 cases under PMLA till date: Govt to Lok Sabha". Hindustan Times. 26 July 2022. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  4. "NCRB Crime Statistics 2021 Vol 3" (PDF).
  5. "Organisational History". Enforcement Directorate. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  6. "Sanjay Kumar Mishra may get a full charge of Enforcement Directorate". The Hindu. 27 October 2018. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2018 – via thehindu.com.
  7. "Directorate of Enforcement". Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  8. "ED (Enforcement Directorate)". Directorate of Enforcement. Archived from the original on 7 April 2018.
  9. "ED website - FAQ". directorateofenforcement. Archived from the original on 7 September 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  10. "Only 23 convicted in 5,422 cases under PMLA till date: Govt to Lok Sabha". Hindustan Times. 26 July 2022. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  11. "ED Action Has Increased Dramatically Under Modi Govt, Parliament Reply Reveals". The Wire. 26 July 2022. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  12. @Digitalhindi (3 January 2023). "What is ED and ED Full Form". Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
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