The Union government on Tuesday said that there have been two convictions out of the 193 cases registered by the Enforcement Directorate against MPs, MLAs and local body members in the last 10 years.

One conviction took place in 2016-’17, and another took place in 2019-’20, the Centre said.

The data was provided by the Ministry of Finance in the Rajya Sabha in response to queries raised by Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP AA Rahim.

Rahim sought to know the number of ED cases registered against political leaders in the last ten years, along with their parties, the year the cases were registered and the states they belong to, and the number of convictions or acquittals in such cases.

He also sought to know whether there had been an increase in the ED cases filed against Opposition leaders in recent years. In addition, he asked whether the Union government had undertaken any reforms to improve the transparency and efficiency of the investigations undertaken by the ED.

In response, Pankaj Chaudhary, who is a minister of state in the finance ministry, said that there was no state or party-wise data about the ED cases filed against MPs, MLAs and local administrators.

However, the data provided by the minister showed an increase in the number of cases filed by the central agency between 2019 and 2024, which marked the second term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. A total of 138 cases were filed against politicians in this period.

The highest number of cases was filed in 2022-’23 at 32.

Thirteen cases have been registered against leaders between April 2024 and February, the data showed. The third term of the Modi government began in June last year.

Chaudhary noted that no information was maintained on whether there had been an increase in ED cases filed against Opposition leaders in recent years.

The minister also said that the central agency took up “cases for investigation based on credible evidence/material and does not distinguish cases based on political affiliations, religion or otherwise”.

The actions of the ED are always open to judicial review, he added.