Skip to main content

Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill to cover wide-ranging white-collar crimes

By
Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill to cover wide-ranging white-collar crimes
 
The provisions of the fugitives bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday, will apply to those involved in loan defaults, bank frauds, tax evasion, black money, benamy transactions and corruption
 
The government on Monday introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha seeking punitive powers to target fugitives who have committed white-collar crimes.Significantly, the brief of the proposed legislation is much wider than the initial draft that had been put out by the government last year.
 
The provisions of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill 2018 will extend to not only loan defaulters and fraudsters but also to those individuals who violate laws governing taxes, black money, benami properties, financial sector and corruption.Earlier this month, the cabinet had cleared a bill that seeks to give the government powers to attach assets of offenders who are outside the country and do not return to India to face prosecution proceedings even after an arrest warrant is issued.

The bill will be applicable for all offences where the monetary value exceeds Rs100 crore.According to the provisions of the bill, all individuals attempting to elude the Indian legal process from the date of the enactment of the law will be covered.The confiscation of property will not be limited to those acquired through the proceeds or profits of the crime. The bill also provides for confiscation of benami properties.
 
The enforcement directorate will be the apex agency that will implement the provisions of the bill. The government has also inserted a clause to protect itself and the officers from any legal suits.J.N. Gupta, managing director at Stakeholders Empowerment Services, a proxy advisory firm, welcomed the legislation.The bill was initially envisaged in budget 2017 to bring to task wilful defaulters such as liquor baron Vijay Mallya.
 
However, the urgency for its introduction increased after the recent Rs12,636 crore scam, perpetrated by jewellers Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, hit Punjab National Bank.Mallya’s spokesperson and Choksi’s lawyer declined to comment.“One can’t blame people for not returning. They should have assurance about fair investigation and personal safety. Mr. Nirav Modi has always responded to all communications by PNB and investigators. So he can’t be termed as a fugitive,” said Vijay Aggarwal, Modi’s lawyer.
 
The Mint, New Delhi, 13th March 2018

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Data storage norm splits digital payments industry

By
Data storage norm splits digital payments industry  India’s nascent digital payment industry could be thrown into disarray due to the demand by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that all user data be stored within the country, fears an industry grouping, which has termed the decision as “heavy-handed”, even as others, including the country’s largest digital payment provider Paytm, have hailed the move.  In a bid to narrow the growing schism, the industry is planning to send a formal representation to the regulator highlighting its concerns, a top official told ET.  “We are trying to build a consensus on the issue," said the person adding that the representation to the central bank will be ready this week.  RBI on April 6, mandated all payment companies—global and local—to set up data storage facilities within India by October. The stringent six-month deadline has attracted the ire of several sections of the industry that fear it will lead to a disruption of wel...
18 comments
Read more

Sebi to finalise options in commodities today

By
The Commodity Derivatives Advisory Committee of the Securities and Exchange Board of India ( Sebi) will meet on Friday with senior officials of the latter, to give a final shape to the rules on options trading in commodity futures, beside revising the warehousing norms to ensure good delivery on settlement. The decision taken, after discussing with the advisory committee, will be placed before the regulator’s board, to finalise the regulations. According to knowledgeable sources, three commodities in each segment, agricultural and non- agricultural, have been proposed for introducing options. It appears commodities from the soya and guar segments are preferred in the former. From the non- agri segment, it is likely that gold, silver and crude oil will be finalised. All these These have better liquidity and both the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange and the Multi Commodity Exchange, respectively, will be able to introduce the options. In the equity segments, options ar...
17 comments
Read more

E tailers global warehouses may come under tax net

By
E tailers  global warehouses may come under tax net Warehouses of e-commerce companies based in countries such as Australia, Japan, Italy,  Spain, the Netherlands, and Russia may not be exempted from paying the income tax in India  once the multilateral instrument (MLI) to prevent base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS)  comes into force. BEPS refers to the reporting framework mooted by the Organisation for Economic  Co-operation and Development (OECD) and signed by over 100 countries, including India, to  prevent exploiting gaps and mismatches in tax rules to shift profits by multinational  companies (MNCs) artificially to low-tax regimes. The representatives of 68 countries on June 7 this year signed an agreement (MLI) in Paris  to amend their tax treaties to bring them in alignment with measures to prevent BEPS.  However, there is still time for synchronising tax treaties with the multilateral  instrument. India has submitte...
17 comments
Read more