ED cases surge more than twelve-fold, IT prosecutions doubled in the last 11 years
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax (IT) department have together dealt with more than 20,000 cases in the last 11 years, the government informed parliament on Monday. The ED recorded 6,444 Enforcement Case Information Reports (ECIRs) under the PMLA, while the IT department has filed 13,877 prosecution cases over the same period, said Finance Minister of State Pankaj Chaudhary while responding to a question in the Lok Sabha. The ED has seen a dramatic increase in money laundering probe with cases rising from 181 in 2014-15 to 556 in the current fiscal year. On raids and searches carried out by the ED, a sharp escalation with a massive jump from just 46 in 2014-15 to 2,267 in the current year till November was observed. In 2023-24, the federal investigation agency had conducted 2,600 searches. In the last 11 years, the ED has carried out 11,106 search and seizure operations across India. The data states the IT has also intensified its activities and conducted 9,657 group searches in the last 11 years. The prosecutions cases saw their highest numbers in 2017-18 with 4,527 cases filed, though the figure has since moderated to 271 cases this year till September. The minister also stated that the conviction rate of ED is nearly 95 percent in cases that reached judgment. Of 56 cases decided by special PMLA courts between April 2014 and November 2025, convictions were secured in 53 instances, which resulted in 121 individuals being put behind bars after being convicted. The IT department's prosecution outcomes have different tales to tell. Of the total cases filed, 522 have resulted in convictions, while 963 ended in acquittals and 3,345 were withdrawn. The minister also stated that conviction and acquittal figures don't directly correlate to cases filed in the same year, as legal proceedings often span multiple years. When we talk about the number of people facing prosecution complaints, which means the number of people charge sheeted, the data shows that 16,404 persons and entities have faced prosecution complaints or supplementary complaints filed by the ED during this period. Further, the minister in his response said that state-wise data is not maintained centrally by either agency.
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