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India Gazette
23-05-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
BRS' KT Rama Rao slams CM Revanth Reddy, calls Telangana Congress'
Hyderabad (Telangana) [India] May 23 (ANI): Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao (KTR) on Friday, alleged that Telangana has become an 'ATM for Scamgress' (Congress), with Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is implicated in corrupt practices. Taking to X, sharing screenshots of newspaper reports related to National Herald case, he wrote, 'Telangana has become an ATM for Scamgress and it's been now corroborated by agencies As the ED charge sheets Telangana 'Bag Man' in National Herald case, he is trying his best to distract the people's attention from his corrupt practices The million dollar question is whether the NDA Govt will act this time or pardon Revant Reddy as they've done in the case of Amrut Scam, RR Tax and Civil supplies scam' Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) presented its opening arguments before Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court regarding the cognisance of its complaint against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and others in connection with a money laundering case linked to the National Herald. In the opening submissions, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S V Raju submitted that an offence of money laundering is made out in this case. He also submitted that there were proceeds of crime. It was also submitted that there was continuing criminal activity for the generation of proceeds of crime, which constitutes the offence of money laundering. After hearing the opening submitted by ASG S V Raju and Special Counsel for ED Zoheb Hosain, the Special Judge listed the matter for remaining arguments from July 2 to July 8. Special judge Vishal Gogne listed the matter for day-to-day hearing on the point of cognisance of ED's Prosecution complaint against Gandhi and other accused persons. The court listed the matter in July after hearing the submissions of defence counsel, who urged for a hearing in July, given voluminous documents totalling 5,000 pages. (ANI)
Time of India
02-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Hyd ED zonal office tops in prosecution under PMLA
Hyderabad: The Hyderabad zonal office of the Enforcement Directorate has been recognised as the top performing unit in the country for the financial year 2024–2025, earning national acclaim for filing the highest number of prosecution complaints under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act . Joint director Rohit Anand was honoured by the ministry of finance during a special ceremony held in Delhi on Enforcement Directorate Day on Thursday. The award was presented by additional solicitor general SV Raju, minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary, and ED director Rahul Navin. You Can Also Check: Hyderabad AQI | Weather in Hyderabad | Bank Holidays in Hyderabad | Public Holidays in Hyderabad Of the 333 prosecution complaints filed by the ED across India in the last financial year, the Hyderabad zonal office accounted for 49—more than any other zone. The Hyderabad office also played a pivotal role in financial recoveries , contributing over ₹6,000 crore out of the ₹15,261 crore recovered by the ED through 30 cases nationwide. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 10 Mysterious Photos That Cannot Be Explained True Edition Undo ED officials noted said although many criminal assets are secured, they often remain unproductive until final confiscation orders are passed by the courts. To accelerate restitution, the agency utilised provisions for Non-Conviction Based Confiscation under the PMLA, as well as the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act. These efforts were bolstered through collaboration with banks, financial institutions, state govts, resolution professionals, and legal officers. The Hyderabad zonal office also recorded a significant number of property attachments and enforcement case information reports, further strengthening its contribution to the ED's national enforcement efforts.
The Print
02-05-2025
- Politics
- The Print
ASG's advice to the ED is timely, sensible. Agency must course-correct right away
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju's advice to the ED to exercise its power of arrest sparingly is timely, sensible. The agency has increasingly faced court rebukes, a spate of bail orders in high-profile cases, and negative public image of targetting opposition leaders selectively. ED must course-correct before it's too late. Calling the slain Navy officer's wife an anti-national is appalling The vilification of the slain Navy officer's wife, once the face of the Pahalgam tragedy, is appalling. Her appeal not to target Kashmiris or Muslims has made her a target, exposing hypocrisy of those who grieved with her. Calling her an 'anti-national' now only exposes their sympathy as political convenience.
Hindustan Times
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Power to arrest must be used sparingly: ASG to ED officials
Additional solicitor general (ASG) SV Raju on Thursday asked Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers not to make arrests in money-laundering cases 'hastily' as this would not yield them good results in courts, and advised them to rather use their powers to arrest sparingly and at a later stage of investigation. Speaking at an ED Day event at Bharat Mandapam in Delhi, ASG Raju, who represents the federal agency in multiple high-profile cases, emphasised that the provision of arrest is 'very crucial' for all agencies that carry out investigations as often, it is the threat of arrest that makes a person disclose certain things. 'Arrest is very crucial for all agencies which are carrying out investigation. Many times, it is the threat of arrest that makes a person disclose certain things. You must use your power to arrest not liberally but sparingly, and you must use it at a very late stage, not at a nascent stage (of investigation),' Raju said. The event, marking completion of 69 years of the establishment of the agency, was also attended by Union minister of state (MoS) for finance Pankaj Chaudhary, ED director Rahul Navin, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Praveen Sood, and senior officers of the financial crimes probe agency. Elaborating on why the arrest should be delayed, the ASG said: 'Under PMLA (prevention of money laundering act), you must furnish the grounds of arrest and reasons to believe before taking someone into custody. So, if you arrest a person early, you may not have those grounds of arrest or you may not have reasons to believe that undergo the scrutiny of courts to say that yes reasons are justifiable for arrest.' 'So, if you delay it (arrest) a little bit, you will get proper appreciation of courts also. Many times, courts say grounds of arrest or reasons to believe are not proper,' Raju added. He said arrest also defeats the purpose of section 50 of the PMLA, under which ED records the statements of people connected to the case that are admissible as 'evidence' in the courts. Material evidence can be gathered when ED interrogates a person, but if a person is arrested, the section 50 statement becomes 'vulnerable' and it is no longer evidence, the ASG said. 'So, you have to obtain a section-50 statement before the arrest ... and therefore, my second suggestion is that do not be hasty in arresting people. Take your time, get the evidence and then arrest,' he added. Raju said if ED arrests a person early, when the investigation is not over, and due to this, the agency is not able to file a chargesheet within the stipulated 60 days, then the accused, even a worst offender, will get the 'default' bail. The senior law officer also suggested that 'hawala' dealers should be categorised as reporting entities, so that they provide information to the agency about their clients who move huge amounts of cash. Raju also asked ED to be careful about section invoking vicarious liability – making director of a company liable for it. He was referring to the agency naming former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal as accused along with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi excise irregularities by invoking section 70 of the PMLA. The companies under Section 70 can be defined as partnership firm or an association of persons (AOP) etc. 'We are today facing the issue if a political party was an AOP and our case is that it is an it is a deemed company under Section 70. And we have referred to the representation of the people act. This is pending in court so I will not say much,' he said. On the occasion, ED director Navin said the anti-money laundering law was left largely ineffective before 2014, and the slowdown in adjudication of these cases can be attributed to the general delay in the judicial system of the country coupled with the inherent complexity of such investigations. He also said ED had a 'commendable conviction' rate of 93.6% as out of the 47 cases decided by courts till now, there have been only three acquittals. 'After 2014, however, there has been a significant step-up in enforcement activity. From 2014 to 2024, 5,113 new PMLA investigations were initiated, averaging more than 500 cases per year,' the agency chief said.
Time of India
01-05-2025
- Time of India
Tweak PMLA, make hawala operators & angadias partners in probe: Law officer
The ED's top law officer, additional solicitor general S V Raju , on Thursday suggested that the PMLA should be amended to make angadias/hawala operators as 'reporting entity' under the law. So far, hawala operations are deemed illegal cash transactions. The ASG's suggestion could bring them under a regulatory framework where they may have to disclose the identity of their clients and the beneficiaries. If they are made reporting entities under the PMLA, they will be obligated to maintain records of transactions and that could be handy in probing money trail, the ASG said. Raju added that hawala operators can be seen as assisting in investigation of money laundering crimes rather than just being made an accused.
