The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has recovered approximately ₹23,000 crore of laundered money and distributed it to the victims of financial crimes, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the Supreme Court on Thursday. The statement was made during an open court hearing before a special bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice B.R. Gavai, and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma. The bench was hearing a batch of petitions seeking a review of the Supreme Court’s May 2 verdict that had ordered the liquidation of Bhushan Power & Steel Limited (BPSL), setting aside JSW Steel’s resolution plan.
On July 31, the court recalled its earlier verdict and decided to hear the review petitions afresh. During the hearing, when a lawyer mentioned the ED’s involvement in the BPSL case, the Chief Justice remarked, “Here also ED is there.” In response, Mehta stated, “Let me tell a fact, which was never said in any court, and that is …ED has recovered ₹23,000 crore (laundered money) and given it to the victims.”
He clarified that the recovered money does not remain with the government but is handed over to the victims of the financial frauds. When asked about the conviction rate, Mehta acknowledged that it is low, attributing it to systemic issues in the country’s criminal justice framework.
The Chief Justice remarked that even in the absence of convictions, people seem to be punished through prolonged judicial processes. Mehta also referred to raids on politicians where such large amounts of cash were discovered that cash counting machines stopped working, and additional machines had to be brought in.
He noted that narratives are often built on platforms like YouTube when prominent political figures are caught, but emphasized that such narratives do not influence judicial decisions. The Chief Justice responded by saying that he doesn’t follow news channels and only glances at newspaper headlines for a few minutes in the morning.
The remarks come amid ongoing criticism by various benches of the Supreme Court regarding the ED’s conduct, particularly in cases involving opposition leaders. On July 21, in a separate matter, the CJI-led bench had observed that the ED was “crossing all limits” in some of its actions.
