Find out all the informations about the Enforcement Directorate. India’s central agency, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), has been in the spotlight recently. It leads up to the Lok Sabha elections commencing on April 19. ED arrested Arvind Kejriwal. On the night of Thursday, March 21, the ED detained Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. Kejriwal’s apprehension occurred almost a week following the arrest of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha in the same case. In addition to Kejriwal, the ED has also taken into custody top AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh in relation to the case. Furthermore, the ED has arrested former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren in a separate case. He was alleged to the land scam. History of ED The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is an organization responsible for investigating economic crimes and violations of foreign exchange laws. According to the ED’s website, the unit was initially established on May 1, 1956. It was developed as an ‘Enforcement Unit’ within the Department of Economic Affairs. It was established to handle violations of Exchange Control Laws under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947 (FERA ’47).
In 1957, the unit was renamed as the Enforcement Directorate. Three years later, the administrative control of the ED was transferred from the Department of Economic Affairs to the Department of Revenue. Over time, FERA ’47 was repealed and replaced by FERA, 1973. During a brief period of four years (1973-1977), the Directorate came under the administrative jurisdiction of the Department of Personnel & Administrative Reforms. In 1973 this was repealed and replaced by the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA). It came into effect on June 1, 2000. The Government enacted the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 (FEOA) to entrust the ED with its enforcement starting from April 21, 2018. It was in the response to the rise in cases involving economic offenders seeking refuge in foreign countries.
Fuctions of ED The agency’s key principles are listed as below;
● integrity
● responsibility
● dedication
● excellence
● impartiality.
The FBI investigates allegations of money laundering and violations of foreign exchange regulations. In order to carry out its duties, it enforces several laws. This includes the Foreign Exchange Management Act of 1999 (FEMA), the Prevention of Money Laundering Act of 2002 (PMLA), the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act of 2018 (FEOA), the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act of 1973 (FERA), and the Sponsoring agency under COFEPOSA.
