ED recovered Rs 23,000 cr laundered money, distributed it to victims: SG tells Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has recovered around Rs 23,000 crore siphoned off (laundered) money and distributed it to the victims of these financial crimes, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court on Thursday.

Mehta made the submissions in a hearing on a batch of petitions seeking review of the May 2, 2025 judgement of the apex court, which ordered for the liquidation of Bhushan Power & Steel Limited (BPSL).

A bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and K Vinod Chandran was holding an open court hearing in the matter.

While replying to the question of the top court, about the ED's conviction rate, Mehta said that it was low, attributing the issue to broader deficiencies in the criminal justice system.

The bench then observed, "Even if they are not convicted, you have been successful in sentencing them almost without a trial for years together."

The SG said, “In some of the cases where the politicians were raided, where the cash was found, our machines stopped functioning because of the huge cash…we had to bring new machines".

He added that some narratives are being built on YouTube programmes when some big politicians are caught.

The CJI said, “We do not decide matters on narratives… I don't see news channels. I see headlines in newspapers only in the morning for 10-15 minutes".

The law officer said he knew the cases are not decided by the judges on the narratives being built on social media and outside courtrooms.

The CJI-led bench on July 21, in a different case, had observed that the Enforcement Directorate was "crossing all limits".