What Is the Full Form of ED in Law?

The Full Form of ‘ED’ in Law is ‘Enforcement Directorate’.

Full Form of ED

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is an agency of the Indian Government that is responsible for enforcing economic laws and fighting financial crimes in India. The ED also works with other agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement bodies to investigate cases related to money laundering, violations of foreign exchange regulations and related offences.

The ED was established in 1956 under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) which was enacted by the government to control the inflow and outflow of foreign currency from India. The ED is headquartered in Delhi and has regional offices across India, including Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore. Over the years, its mandate has expanded to include investigations into all types of white-collar crime such as hawala transactions, ponzi schemes, smuggling and drug trafficking.

The ED’s primary function is to investigate offences related to foreign exchange laws such as FERA and FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act). It also investigates cases relating to money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED has been successful in detecting a number of financial frauds like Satyam Computers scam, 2G spectrum scam, disproportionate assets case against former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and black money stashed abroad case involving Vijay Mallya among others.

In recent times, the ED has become more active in tackling economic offences such as chit fund scams after it received additional powers from the government following amendments made in 2019. The amended law provided for additional punitive measures for offenders who are convicted under various sections of PMLA including attachment of property and confiscation of proceeds from illegal activities.

Apart from investigations into economic offences, the ED also carries out preventive measures such as issuing statutory notices under FERA/FEMA for violation or suspected violation of foreign exchange regulations. It takes action against shell companies operating illegally or those that are being used for tax evasion or money laundering purposes by attaching their properties or freezing their bank accounts.

The Full Form of ‘ED’ in Law is ‘Enforcement Directorate’ which indicates that it is an agency responsible for enforcing economic laws through investigation into financial crimes prevalent in India. Its primary purpose is to detect violations of foreign exchange laws such as FERA/FEMA and investigate cases involving money laundering through PMLA while also taking preventive measures like issuing notices or freezing bank accounts when required.

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