‘Can’t act like a criminal’: Supreme Court’s stern words for ED; bench says agency must work ‘inside four corners of the legislation’ | India News

Supreme Court; Enforcement Directorate

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday sternly reminded the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that the central agency must operate strictly inside the bounds of the legislation, stating, “You can’t act like a crook.” A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan, and N Kotiswar Singh made the statement whereas listening to petitions in search of a evaluate of the prime court docket’s July 2022 ruling which upheld ED’s powers of arrest, search, and seizure below the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).Appearing for the Centre and ED, extra solicitor basic (ASG) SV Raju argued that the evaluate petitions weren’t maintainable, describing them as mere “disguised appeals” in opposition to the earlier verdict. He claimed that “influential crooks” exploit the authorized course of to delay investigations by submitting a number of functions, forcing ED officers to concentrate on court docket appearances as an alternative of conducting probes.Justice Bhuyan pushed again, highlighting issues about the agency’s low conviction price.“You can’t act like a crook, you have to act within the four corners of the law. I observed in one of my judgments that ED has registered around 5,000 ECIRs (enforcement case information report) in the past five years but the conviction rate is less than 10 per cent. We are also concerned about ED’s image. After 5–6 years of custody, if people are acquitted, who takes responsibility?” he said.The ASG further argued that the agency is often “handicapped” when “influential accused” flee to jurisdictions such as the Cayman Islands. He also pointed out that in 2019, a Supreme Court Constitution bench had already upheld the PMLA’s constitutional validity. The hearing of review petitions will continue next week.(With PTI inputs)