Amid storm over ED’s 1% conviction rate against leaders, a look at its 2 convictions

The two convictions of political leaders that the ED managed to secure in the past decade are of former Jharkhand ministers Hari Narayan Rai and Anosh Ekka, both of whom were booked by the agency in 2009 in connection with an illegal mining case against former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda. Here is a look back at the cases.

Political background of the cases

The case against former CM Koda came to light in the backdrop of a fluid phase in state politics. Jharkhand, which was carved out of Bihar in 2000, threw up a hung Assembly in the 2005 polls, which saw the BJP emerge as the single largest party with 30 seats in the 81-member House while the JD(U) won six seats. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress of the UPA won 17 and nine seats respectively. The RJD won 7 seats while Independents and other smaller parties won the remaining seats.

JMM chief Shibu Soren was invited to form the government but he resigned nine days after taking oath as the CM after failing to prove his majority. In March 2005, Arjun Munda of the BJP became the CM with the support of the JD(U) as well as Anosh Ekka of the Jharkhand Party and Independents like Koda and Rai, all of whom were sworn-in as ministers in the Munda Cabinet.

Koda, Rai, Ekka and MLA Kamlesh Singh withdrew support to the Munda government in September 2006 following which Koda was sworn in as the CM with the support of the Congress, JMM, RJD, United Goans Democratic Party and All India Forward Bloc (AIFB). All three Independent MLAs secured a Cabinet berth yet again.

The development was seen by many as Koda’s “revenge” over being denied a ticket by the BJP in 2005, allegedly at Munda’s behest. Koda began his political career with the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) and won the 2000 Bihar Assembly polls from Jagannathpur as a BJP nominee.

What were the corruption cases?

In August 2008, the JMM withdrew support to the Koda government leading to its fall. In November that year, the Vigilance Bureau booked Koda, Rai and Ekka along with a few others for alleged corruption in allotment of mines and amassing wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income. President’s Rule was imposed in Jharkhand in January 2009 as no party had managed to form the government.

Based on the Vigilance Bureau’s case, the ED registered a case of money laundering against the three legislators and others while the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) began parallel probes in the case and filed separate chargesheets against Koda and the other ministers.

In 2012, a court framed charges against Koda and five others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and accused them of laundering money to the tune of Rs 3,549.72 crore.

The ED alleged that the accused had invested the proceeds of the scam in India and outside the country, and traced transactions to Dubai, Hong Kong and Thailand.

In 2013, the ED arrested alleged hawala operator Anil Bastawade after he was deported from Indonesia. It also nabbed Manoj Punamia, Koda’s associate, for allegedly moving the ill-gotten money.

Rai’s conviction

The cases went to trial and in January 2017, eight years after the ED began its probe, a special court in Ranchi convicted Rai for money laundering and sentenced him to seven years of rigorous imprisonment. This was the first conviction that the ED had secured under the PMLA, 15 years after it was passed by Parliament and 12 years after it came into force.

Rai had served in the Cabinets of Munda, Koda and Soren between March 12,2005 and December 19, 2008, and the ED chargesheet accused him of laundering “proceeds of the crime to the tune of Rs 3,72,54,016” during this period.

The ED accused Rai of purchasing immovable properties in the names of his wife, relatives and companies besides amassing movable assets in different bank accounts from the earnings generated by way of corruption. “The investigation revealed that Hari Narayan Rai, as minister in the Jharkhand government, during the period 2005–08, acquired illegal income, by misappropriation of the public money and using the same for his personal benefits and laundered it through purchase and acquisition of various immovable and movable assets,” an ED statement at the time had said.

“He established a construction company M/s Mahamaya Construction Pvt. Ltd., in the name of his wife Sushila Devi and Others, M/s Maa Gauri Construction in the name of his brother Sanjay Kumar Rai and others and also established M/s Baba Basuki Dairy Firm in the name of his wife and his brother, and laundered huge money in the name of the said companies/firms and projected them as untainted money. Rai had also transacted huge amounts of money through his wife and brothers and projected it as untainted money,” the ED’s statement added.

Ekka’s conviction

In March 2020, a special court in Ranchi convicted and sentenced Ekka – who had also served as a minister in the Koda Cabinet – to seven years of rigorous imprisonment after finding him guilty of money laundering to the tune of Rs 20.32 crore.

“The ED’s investigations under PMLA were based on the FIR registered by Vigilance Bureau, Government of Jharkhand for misusing his official position and power being a public servant and acquiring huge movable and immovable properties. Subsequently, on the direction of the High Court of Jharkhand, the CBI took up investigation from the Vigilance Bureau,” an ED statement had said.

ED’s low conviction rate

Seen to be one of the most powerful investigation agencies in the country, the ED has often been slammed over the slow progress of cases and its poor conviction rate.

In 2016, then Revenue Secretary Hansmukh Adhia flagged the issue, saying that the ED needed to get its act together as its cases were not reaching conviction. In reply, then ED Director Karnal Singh had said that agency cases were pending in courts and most cases were delayed because they were associated with high-profile and influential people.

ED officials point out that the pace of the trial is not in their hands and if the agency’s record is seen in terms of convictions achieved in cases where trial has been completed, it is better than most central agencies. Till date, trials have been completed only in 25 PMLA cases. Of these, 24 have ended in convictions and one in acquittal. The agency has secured conviction against only 45 people till date.