Who is Ashok Mittal? The AAP MP and LPU Chancellor at the Centre of ED's FEMA Action Across Lovely Group
North Desk Correspondent
Chandigarh, April 15
The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday conducted simultaneous searches at multiple premises of the Lovely Group — the education and business empire headed by Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Kumar Mittal — in connection with alleged violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
ED teams arrived from Delhi, accompanied by central forces, and fanned out across several locations including Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Phagwara, Lovely Autos, Lovely Sweets, and the Lovely Distance Education Centre. Residential premises and offices linked to Mittal’s brothers — Ramesh Mittal and Naresh Mittal — are also being covered.
Reports say that searches were simultaneously conducted at Mittal’s house in Jalandhar as well as at his son’s premises in Gurugram.
The searches are ongoing. No official statement has been issued by the ED so far.
CM Mann’s reaction: “Modi style”
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was among the first to react, posting on X in Hindi — with a political edge and a couplet:
“भाजपा द्वारा पंजाब चुनाव की तैयारी शुरू… आम आदमी पार्टी के राज्य सभा सांसद अशोक मित्तल के घर और यूनिवर्सिटी में ED की रेड.. typical मोदी स्टाइल.. हम भी पत्ते नहीं जो शाख से टूट कर गिर जाएंगे। आंधियों को कह दो अपनी औकात में रहें।”
(Translation: “BJP has begun its Punjab election preparation… ED raids at the house and university of AAP Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal. Typical Modi style. We are not leaves that will fall from the branch in a storm. Tell the winds to stay within their limits.”)
Mann’s framing — linking the ED action directly to BJP’s preparations for the next Punjab assembly election — sets up the political battle lines. It is significant that the Chief Minister, himself from a different government than the Centre, chose to characterise the federal agency’s action as electoral strategy rather than legal process.
Union minister and BJP leader Ravneet Singh Bittu didn’t waste time in responding to Mann in Punjabi, and said that his party was of thieves…
Who is Ashok Kumar Mittal?
The man at the centre of Wednesday’s action built his prominence not in politics but in education and business — and entered the political arena only four years ago.
Born on September 10, 1964, Mittal is a native of Jalandhar who graduated in law from Guru Nanak Dev University. He initially joined the family business of manufacturing sweets under the Lovely Sweets brand in the 1980s. The Lovely Sweets business was founded by his late father, Baldev Raj Mittal, in 1961. Ashok worked in it alongside his brothers Ramesh Mittal and Naresh Mittal — the same brothers whose premises are being searched by the ED today.
From a sweet shop—Lovely Sweets has been a household name in the region–the family pivoted to education. Lovely Professional University was established under the Lovely Professional University Act, 2005, and commenced operations in 2006. Mittal’s wife, Rashmi Mittal, serves as pro-chancellor. Today it is ranked among India’s largest private universities, appearing in the 501–600 band of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and at 901–950 in the QS World University Rankings in 2026.
The political ascent — and the timing
Mittal entered the Rajya Sabha on April 10, 2022, representing Punjab for AAP. He was elected unopposed and is in his first term. He kept a relatively low profile until April 2, 2026 — just 13 days before Wednesday’s ED action — when AAP wrote to the Rajya Sabha secretariat proposing Mittal as Deputy Leader, replacing Raghav Chadha, who was simultaneously stripped of speaking time from the party’s quota. The development triggered a controversy with several AAP leaders and Raghav Chadha hitting out at each other.
He also sits on the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance — a committee that provides parliamentary oversight of the Ministry of Finance, under which the ED functions.
The opposition is unlikely to miss either irony.
Not the first controversy
Mittal’s name has surfaced in controversy before. In August 2022, the Punjab Congress accused the AAP-led state government of enabling LPU to illegally occupy prime panchayat land in Phagwara, alleging the encroachment had gone on for over a decade and that the government was protecting its own MP. The matter eventually faded without significant action — but the pattern of allegations around the Lovely Group’s land and financial dealings has persisted in opposition discourse.
What is FEMA?
The Foreign Exchange Management Act governs cross-border financial transactions, foreign investments, and the handling of foreign exchange by Indian entities. Violations can include illegal remittances abroad, irregularities in foreign direct investment, and undisclosed foreign assets. The ED is the primary agency empowered to investigate and prosecute FEMA cases. Unlike criminal cases, FEMA proceedings are civil in nature — though they can lead to substantial penalties and, in serious cases, attachment of assets.
For a large private university with international student intake from over 50 countries, foreign exchange flows are a natural feature of operations — making the nature of the specific alleged violations a key question as this case develops.
The searches are live as of publication.
This is a developing story. North Desk will update as details emerge.
