Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill

Delhi court declares UK-based arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari a fugitive economic offender under FEOA. UK recently denied his extradition to India

He is the second businessman after Vijay Mallya to be declared a fugitive economic offender under provisions of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act which came into existence in August last year

The new legislation will prevent big economic offenders like Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi from fleeing the country and evading the law.

Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said the Bill will deter people from fleeing, and those who have already fled will return out of fear of attachment of their properties

Nishikant Dubey (BJP) claimed that absconding accused like Mallya, Modi, Choksi were "products of the Congress government", which had also "facilitated" their scams

Edict will cover cases where alleged proceeds from crime are over Rs 1 bn

The Bill seeks to confiscate properties of economic offenders - like Nirav Modi- who have left the country to avoid facing criminal prosecution

The Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill makes little policy sense and if passed into law will definitely be challenged as unconstitutional

Arun Jaitley argued that the 'next step' would require international co-operation to recover assets stashed abroad, though it is far from clear what this mechanism could be

New Delhi, 1 March In the wake of the Punjab National Bank scandal, the Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, to attach properties of alleged fraudsters who do not respond to summons for questioning or trial.It also cleared a proposal, under a provision (Section 132) of the Companies Act, to set up the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) to regulate chartered accountants (CAs). While the Bill will be sought to be introduced in the post-recess Budget session of Parliament, the NFRA will be notified under the existing Companies Act, finance minister Arun Jaitley told journalists after the meeting. The fugitives Bill will cover those whose alleged proceeds from a crime is over Rs 1 billion. NFRA will regulate accountants of listed companies and big unlisted companies. The ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) will define the latter entity. Those with small unlisted companies will be regulated by The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India ...

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the modus operandi of Mehta was similar to that of jewellers Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi

The new law is different from the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, which also provides for confiscation of assets

Government will confiscate properties of fugitives who fled the country, said FM Jaitley

Planners in the government also expect disruptions due to the Punjab National Bank scam and the arrest of former finance minister P Chidambaram's son

Proposed law seeks to deter offenders from evading process of Indian law by fleeing the country and is applicable for offences over Rs 100 cr

To bring economic offenders like Vijay Mallya under the long arm of Law, the Central government today proposed a stringent legislation to confiscate properties of "fugitive economic offenders".The draft, 'The Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2017,'seeks to deter economic offenders from evading the process of Indian Law by remaining outside the jurisdiction of Indian Courts. The provisions of the proposed Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2017, once passed by Parliament, will override other legislations dealing with economic offences.It provides for setting up of special courts under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to declare a person a fugitive economic offender. "It is widely felt that the specter of high-value economic offenders absconding from India to defy the legal process seriously undermines the rule of law in India," the finance ministry said in a statement."It is, therefore, felt necessary to provide an effective, expeditious and constitutionally permissible ...