The government has invited comments on a Bill that seeks to deter economic offenders from fleeing the country by attaching and confiscating properties owned by them in India.
The proposed ‘Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2017’ comes against the background of India seeking the extradition of liquor baron Vijay Mallya from the U.K. for defaulted loans to banks. The issue of loan defaults has been stressed as a critical issue burdening the Indian economy by senior government officials like the Finance Minister and Chief Economic Advisor, and private sector economists alike.
“There have been several instances of economic offenders fleeing the jurisdiction of Indian courts, anticipating the commencement, or during the pendency, of criminal proceedings,” the explanatory note accompanying the Bill said. “The absence of such offenders from Indian courts has several deleterious consequences— first, it hampers investigation in criminal cases; second, it wastes precious time of courts of law; third, it undermines the rule of law in India.”
The Bill makes provisions for a special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to declare a person a ‘Fugitive Economic Offender’.
A Fugitive Economic Offender is a person who has an arrest warrant issued in respect of a scheduled offence and who leaves or has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution, or refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution.
