In a bid to prevent fraudsters from seeking safe haven overseas, the Union Cabinet today approved the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018..The Bill, which assumes significance in light of the Nirav Modi PNB fraud, aims to prevent economic offenders from evading the process of Indian law by going abroad, and thus remaining outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts. It applies to economic offences whose total value amounts to Rs. 100 crore or more..A wide array of economic offences, including those contained in the Indian Penal Code, the Prevention of Corruption Act, the SEBI Act and the Companies Act, among others, are covered under the Bill..As per Section 4, a fugitive economic offender is defined as,.“any individual against whom a warrant for arrest in relation to a scheduled offence has been issued by any court in India, who:.(i) leaves or has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution; or.(ii) refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution.”.The legislation empowers a Director appointed by the Central government as per Section 49 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 to file an application in a Special Court for a declaration that an individual is a fugitive economic offender..As per Section 6(2), such an application must contain:.(a) reasons for the belief that an individual is a fugitive economic offender;.(b) any information available as to the whereabouts of the fugitive economic offender;.(c) a list of properties or the value of such properties believed to be the proceeds of crime, including any such property outside India for which confiscation is sought;.(d) a list of properties owned by the person in India for which confiscation is sought;.(e) a list of persons who may have an interest in any of the properties listed under subclauses (c) and (d)..The Director will also be empowered to attach any property of such economic offender, mentioned in the application. Once the application is filed, the Special Court will issue notice to the offender in question. If the offender in question enters appearance through a lawyer, the Court may allow a period of one week to file a reply to the application..Should the offender not make appearance either personally or through a counsel, the Court will be empowered to hear the application, after recording reasons in writing..After hearing the application, the Court may deem such a person to be a fugitive economic offender. It can also order that the proceeds of the crime, or any property owned by the offender shall stand confiscated by the Central government. Further, Section 10(3) states,.“The confiscation order of the Special Court will, to the extent possible, identify the property that constitutes proceeds of crime which are to be confiscated and in case such properties cannot be identified, quantify the value of the proceeds of crime.”.In what can be described as a particularly tough provision to tackle the issue of defaulters evading the government, Section 11 disentitles those declared as fugitive economic offenders from filing any civil claim. The provision states,.“(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law, on a declaration of an individual as a fugitive economic offender, any court in India, in any civil proceeding before it, may, in its discretion, disentitle such individual from putting forward or defending any civil claim..(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law, any court in India in any civil proceeding before it, in its discretion, disentitle any company from putting forward or defending any civil claim, if an individual filing the claim on behalf of the company, or any promoter or key managerial personnel or majority shareholder of the company has been declared a fugitive economic offender.”.The Union Law ministry had approved the bill in September last year, after which it was tabled in the Winter Session of Parliament. It will likely be tabled in the upcoming Budget Session, which kicks off on March 5..Read the Bill:
In a bid to prevent fraudsters from seeking safe haven overseas, the Union Cabinet today approved the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018..The Bill, which assumes significance in light of the Nirav Modi PNB fraud, aims to prevent economic offenders from evading the process of Indian law by going abroad, and thus remaining outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts. It applies to economic offences whose total value amounts to Rs. 100 crore or more..A wide array of economic offences, including those contained in the Indian Penal Code, the Prevention of Corruption Act, the SEBI Act and the Companies Act, among others, are covered under the Bill..As per Section 4, a fugitive economic offender is defined as,.“any individual against whom a warrant for arrest in relation to a scheduled offence has been issued by any court in India, who:.(i) leaves or has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution; or.(ii) refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution.”.The legislation empowers a Director appointed by the Central government as per Section 49 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 to file an application in a Special Court for a declaration that an individual is a fugitive economic offender..As per Section 6(2), such an application must contain:.(a) reasons for the belief that an individual is a fugitive economic offender;.(b) any information available as to the whereabouts of the fugitive economic offender;.(c) a list of properties or the value of such properties believed to be the proceeds of crime, including any such property outside India for which confiscation is sought;.(d) a list of properties owned by the person in India for which confiscation is sought;.(e) a list of persons who may have an interest in any of the properties listed under subclauses (c) and (d)..The Director will also be empowered to attach any property of such economic offender, mentioned in the application. Once the application is filed, the Special Court will issue notice to the offender in question. If the offender in question enters appearance through a lawyer, the Court may allow a period of one week to file a reply to the application..Should the offender not make appearance either personally or through a counsel, the Court will be empowered to hear the application, after recording reasons in writing..After hearing the application, the Court may deem such a person to be a fugitive economic offender. It can also order that the proceeds of the crime, or any property owned by the offender shall stand confiscated by the Central government. Further, Section 10(3) states,.“The confiscation order of the Special Court will, to the extent possible, identify the property that constitutes proceeds of crime which are to be confiscated and in case such properties cannot be identified, quantify the value of the proceeds of crime.”.In what can be described as a particularly tough provision to tackle the issue of defaulters evading the government, Section 11 disentitles those declared as fugitive economic offenders from filing any civil claim. The provision states,.“(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law, on a declaration of an individual as a fugitive economic offender, any court in India, in any civil proceeding before it, may, in its discretion, disentitle such individual from putting forward or defending any civil claim..(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law, any court in India in any civil proceeding before it, in its discretion, disentitle any company from putting forward or defending any civil claim, if an individual filing the claim on behalf of the company, or any promoter or key managerial personnel or majority shareholder of the company has been declared a fugitive economic offender.”.The Union Law ministry had approved the bill in September last year, after which it was tabled in the Winter Session of Parliament. It will likely be tabled in the upcoming Budget Session, which kicks off on March 5..Read the Bill:
