Potential of Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 to Withstand Judicial Scrutiny
Volume II, Issue I, 2019
The history of India with respect to economic offences is sufficient enough to show the helplessness of government in tackling situations wherein the offender leaves the country for avoiding his confrontation with the prosecution for the same. Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 is a newly promulgated Act that aims to assist the government in effective mechanism of confiscation and attachment of property belonging to such fugitive economic offender who is avoiding Indian legal system. The past of economic offences where accused turns out to be an escapee is not archaic and offences for the same includes fraud, counterfeiting, tax-evasion, money-laundering, benami transactions, transactions defrauding creditors and other such offences. The law has attempted to cure the paralysis which prosecuting agencies were inevitably compelled to suffer because of absence of offender, however the Act goes much beyond the principles of natural justice and basics of criminology. The paper attempts to discuss such transgression of the Act against Article 21 of Indian Constitution and its silence on crucial facets that it intended to accommodate and serve but being overlooked.