ENFORCEMENT DIRECTORATE

ENFORCEMENT DIRECTORATE

Subject : National Organisations

Context : Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued orders for the attachment of several properties belonging to former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and leader of the National Conference in connection with its investigation into alleged money laundering in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) case.

Concept :

Provisional attachment

• According to Section 5 of PMLA, the Director of ED or any other officer (Deputy Director and above) authorised by him can issue orders for attachment of a property that is suspected to have been acquired with the proceeds of crime in a case of scheduled offence.
• The order is valid for 180 days. If it is not confirmed by an ED-appointed Adjudicating Authority by then, the property is automatically released.
• Properties in foreign locations can be attached after a Letter Rogatory is sent through a competent court to the concerned country. The relevant authority in that country then attaches the property.
• Because the attachment is provisional, the accused can continue to enjoy the property.
• The ED will have the power to claim possession only after the Adjudicating Authority confirms the attachment. There is hardly any PMLA attachment that the Adjudicating Authority has refused to confirm so far.
• The accused has the right to challenge the Adjudicating Authority’s confirmation order at the PMLA’s Appellate Tribunal within 45 days. If the Appellate Tribunal too confirms the order, the accused can file a plea in the High Court, and so on.

About Enforcement Directorate:

• It is a Multi Disciplinary Organization mandated with the task of enforcing the provisions of two special fiscal laws – Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) and Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).