ED can’t act like crooks, have to stay within law: Supreme Court

Judges Surya Kant Ujjwal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh’s bench stated that the Enforcement Directorates reputation is another issue that worries us. A series of pleas seeking a review of the top courts 2022 ruling that upheld the ED arrest powers under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) are currently being heard.

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) cannot act like crooks and has to remain within the ambit of law, The Supreme Court said today on Thursday. The remarks were made while expressing concern over the low conviction rates in the cases probed by the central agency.

Judges Surya Kant Ujjwal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh's bench stated that the Enforcement Directorates reputation is another issue that worries us. A series of pleas seeking a review of the top courts 2022 ruling that upheld the Enforcement Directorates (ED) arrest powers under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) are currently being heard.

Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the Centre and the ED, questioned the review petitions. He attributed the low conviction rate to the evasive tactics of influential accused. "Influential crooks have a lot of resources. They hire an army of lawyers to file applications at different stages to prolong the proceedings. The investigating officer of the case keeps making rounds of the court for some or the other application instead of investing time in the investigation.'

Quoting from one of his judgments, Justice Bhuyan said less than 10 per cent of the 5,000 cases registered by the Enforcement Directorate in the last five years have resulted in conviction. "You cannot act like a rogue, you have to act within the ambit of law," Justice Bhuyan said. I had said in one of my judgments that the Enforcement Directorate has registered about 5,000 ECIRs in the last five years, but the conviction rate is less than 10 per cent.

That is why we are insisting that you improve your investigation, because this is a matter related to the freedom of the individual. "We are also concerned about the image of the ED. If people are acquitted after 5-6 years of judicial custody, who will pay the price?

Justice Kant said the solution to all problems is dedicated courts like TADA and POTA courts. PMLA courts can conduct day-to-day proceedings, leading to speedy disposal of cases. "Yes, the influential accused will still file multiple applications, but these accused and their lawyers will know that since it is a day-to-day hearing and their application will be decided the very next day," he said. Now the time has come to take strict action against them. We cannot sympathize with them. I know a magistrate who has to decide on 49 applications in a day. On each of them it is necessary to pass an order of 10-20 pages. This can't go on.'