Sentencing without trial: Supreme Court questions ED's conviction rate

The Supreme Court on Thursday raised questions over the low conviction rate in cases investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) [Punjab National Bank & Anr v Kalyani Transco & Ors].

A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai and Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and Vinod Chandran remarked that even without conviction, the agency has been able to keep the accused in jail for years.

"Just in case, even if they are not convicted, you (ED) have been successful in sentencing them [accused] almost without a trial for years together," CJI BR Gavai remarked.

The remark was made while hearing a review petition against its order rejecting JSW Steel's resolution plan for Bhushan Power and Steel Limited (BPSL).

This came after Solicitor General Tusha Mehta, appearing for the Committee of Creditors (CoC), told the Court that the ED has recovered more than ₹20,000 crore and distributed it to victims.

"The matters which come to court are only high-profile matters, there are other matters also," he said.

CJI Gavai then asked Mehta about what the conviction rate was.

"How much is the conviction rate?" he asked.

Mehta replied:

"Conviction is different. Sometimes we wonder how a person was acquitted. Sometimes we have recovered so much money that our machines stop working. We can't give press interviews and YouTube discussions."

The Chief Justice said that the court does not decide matters based on press reports.

The hearing in the review petition is still in progress.