ENFORCEMENT DIRECTORATE - GOVERNANCE
News: SC
tells government that challenge before it to ED Director’s ‘piecemeal’ tenure
extensions is not about ‘politics’
What's in the news?
● The
Supreme Court reacted sharply that it is not concerned with politics when the
government claimed that the opposition to the “piecemeal” tenure extensions
granted to Enforcement Directorate Director S.K. Mishra is by representatives
of political parties who are trying to subvert ongoing investigations against
their leaders.
Enforcement Directorate:
● It
is responsible for enforcing economic
laws and fighting economic crime in India.
● In
1956, Enforcement Directorate was founded as the "Enforcement Unit"
within the Department of Economic Affairs under the Ministry of Finance.
● In
1957, it was renamed as "Enforcement Directorate".
● Its
headquarter is in Delhi and branches
in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.
Cases dealt by ED:
The
Enforcement Directorate investigate cases related to
● Economic
crimes.
● Violations
of foreign exchange laws.
● It
originally dealt with Exchange Control Laws violations under Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947
(FERA).
At present Enforcement Directorate deals with 4 laws:
Control:
● It
is part of the Department of Revenue,
Ministry of Finance.
● The
prime objective of the Enforcement Directorate is to enforce the provisions of
Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) and Prevention of Money Laundering
Act, 2002 (PMLA).