New Delhi: Though there has been a manifold increase in the number of raids conducted by the Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) in the last nine years of NDA rule, it has been widely alleged that this increase is only because the central government is using the agency only to harass the opposition.
Data released by the central government shows that there has been a 27-fold increase in the number of raids conducted by central agencies in the last eight years. During the UPA reign (2004 to 2014) there were only 112 raids and searches but it shot up to 3010 in the last nine years of the NDA rule.
Answering a question in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said, “A large amount of property has been attached during this period. Between 2014 and 2022, ED attached proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 99,356 crore, and charge sheets were filed in 888 cases among which 23 individuals were convicted in court.”
“In ten years of the previous UPA government, only 112 searches were conducted and property worth Rs 5,346.16 crore was attached. There were only 104 charge sheets filed by the ED during the UPA government, and no accused was convicted,” the minister had said.
In cases of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, there has also been a substantial increase. During 10 years of UPA rule, there were only 571 cases but it increased to 996 in the last nine years. During the UPA rule, the assets seized were worth 14 crores but it increased to 7066 Crores in the last nine years. The minister also said that between 2004 and 2014, 8,586 cases were lodged, while show-cause notices in 2,780 cases were issued. The Union Minister added that a penalty of Rs 1,754 crore was imposed during this period, and properties worth Rs 14 crore were also seized.
Also read: Searches carried out by Gujarat police at party office in Ahmedabad, have proof of illegal raid: AAP
Though there has been a substantial increase in raids and searches leading to huge recovery, the opposition has continuously accused the Modi government of a vindictive attitude where the opposition has been targeted. There are several opposition leaders including M.K. Stalin’s daughter Senthamarai, Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and Trinamool Congress National Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, his wife Rujira Banerjee, and many leaders of the party like Madan Mitra, Kunal Ghosh, Moloy Ghatak who have been subjected to the central agencies' investigation.
On the other hand, the probe against Mukul Roy (So long he was in BJP), a key accused in the Saradha scam who switched from the TMC to the BJP in 2017, has been moving at a snail’s pace. Roy was last called in for questioning by the CBI in September 2019, while the ED sent a notice to him in November 2020 asking him and his wife to submit complete details of their bank accounts and the assets they have in possession from 2013-14.
Similarly, the probes against Suvendu Adhikari, who joined the BJP from the TMC in December 2020, and Sovan Chatterjee, who switched over in August 2019, in the Saradha chit fund scam and the Narada sting cases, have stalled.
