Context

• The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is often in the news.

About ED

• It was constituted in 1956 for handling Exchange Control Laws violations under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA). 
• At present, the administrative control of the Enforcement Directorate is with the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance.
• The ED today is a multi-disciplinary organization mandated with investigation of the offence of money laundering and violations of foreign exchange laws. 

Statutory Functions

• The statutory functions of the Directorate include enforcement of following Acts:

1. The Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA): 

• It is a criminal law enacted to prevent money laundering and to provide for confiscation of property derived from, or involved in, money-laundering and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. 
• ED has been given the responsibility to enforce the provisions of the PMLA by conducting investigation to trace the assets derived from proceeds of crime, to provisionally attach the property and to ensure prosecution of the offenders and confiscation of the property by the Special court.

2. The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA): 

• It is a civil law enacted to consolidate and amend the laws relating to facilitate external trade and payments and to promote the orderly development and maintenance of foreign exchange market in India. 
• ED has been given the responsibility to conduct investigation into suspected contraventions of foreign exchange laws and regulations, to adjudicate and impose penalties on those adjudged to have contravened the law.

3. The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 (FEOA): 

• This law was enacted to deter economic offenders from evading the process of Indian law by remaining outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts. 
• It is a law whereby the Directorate is mandated to attach the properties of the fugitive economic offenders who have escaped from India warranting arrest and provide for the confiscation of their properties to the Central Government.

4. Sponsoring agency under COFEPOSA: 

• Under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA), the Directorate is empowered to sponsor cases of preventive detention with regard to contraventions of FEMA.
  • COFEPOSA was enacted to provide for preventive detention in certain cases for the purposes of conservation and augmentation of foreign exchange and prevention of smuggling activities.