PM Modi says 'Government planning to return money seized by ED to the poor'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that the government is exploring options to return the money seized by the Enforcement Directorate in corruption cases to the poor. PM Modi said he is in discussion with legal experts to make this happen.

In an exclusive interview, Prime Minister Modi said, "I am putting a lot of thought into this because I feel from my heart that these people have looted the poor's money by misusing their position, and they should get it back."

“If I have to make legal changes, I will do it. I am currently seeking the assistance of the legal team. I have instructed the judiciary to advise me on what to do with the money that is lying around,” PM Modi said when asked about the whereabouts of the heaps of money seized by the Enforcement Directorate.

The Prime Minister noted that the new ‘Nyaya Sanhita’, which was brought in to replace the Indian Penal Code, “has some provisions” in this regard.

The government agencies have so far seized Rs 1.25 lakh crore, he added.

He mentioned Enforcement Directorate cases in West Bengal, Kerala, and



the land-for-jobs scam involving former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Yadav.

“I have talked about a couple of types of corruption, one that is done in big businesses where the transaction remains secret. This is a problem. In most cases, innocent people paid for it, like in Bengal, in the case of recruitment of teachers,” the Prime Minister explained.

Similarly, in Kerala, “the people’s money in the Communist Party-run Cooperative Banks was swindled in the name of personal business partnerships, and they have committed fraud worth thousands of crores,” and “...Lalu ji has got the land written in his name when he was the railway minister in exchange for giving jobs to poor people”.

The Prime Minister stated that the probe agency has managed to trace the money trail in these transactions, and that he was trying to think of making a deal to return the land to the poor.

Responding to another question during the interview with India Today, the Prime Minister said the Enforcement Directorate was dysfunctional during the Congress rule and it started functioning effectively under the BJP government.