The give attention to white-collar crimes as a dynamic and upcoming a part of the felony regulation jurisprudence in India is comparatively latest. Several excessive profile and extremely publicized instances of white-collar crimes which have cropped up within the final three many years in India have resulted in vital judicial and legislative consideration being given to prevention and punishment of white-collar crimes.

The Harshad Mehta case, the Satyam case, the Sarada case, the Sahara case, the Vijay Mallya case, the Nirav Modi case, the IL&FS case and so forth are outstanding examples of those. As was noticed by the Supreme Court in Ram Narayan Popli v. CBI,

“The cause of the community deserves better treatment at the hands of the Court in the discharge of its judicial functions. The Community or the State is not a persona non grata whose cause may be treated with disdain. The entire community is aggrieved if economic offenders who ruin the economy of the State are not brought to book. A murder may be committed in the heat of moment upon passions being aroused. An economic offence is committed with cool calculation and deliberate design with an eye on personal profit regardless of the consequence to the Community… Unfortunately in the last few years, the country has seen an alarming rise in white-collar crimes which has affected the fibre of the country’s economic structure. These cases are nothing but private gain at the cost of public, and lead to economic disaster.”

The Legislature on its half has undertaken vital measures together with enacting new statutes and considerably amending (generally incessantly) current statutes. This has additional resulted in a state of affairs the place sure provisions resembling these within the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 are amended nearly on a yearly foundation by way of Finance Acts.

The e-book ‘White- Collar Crimes in India: Contemporary Issues and Complexities,’ authored by attorneys Susanah Naushad and Mohammed Raiz, and printed by Thomson Reuters, seeks to make clear these and myriad different points.

The e-book gives worthwhile insights into areas of white-collar crime regulation. As Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra has written within the foreword to the e-book,

“This well-researched book comes at a vital time as there is an increase in criminal litigation, which might be the result of the downturn in the Indian economy on account of the Covid- 19 pandemic. This book covers largely untouched areas, such as the origin of white- collar crime, its interface with the IPC and other special laws such as the stat­utes for corruption, money laundering, companies law and so on.”

The e-book is split into 3 components – (I) White-Collar Offences, (II) Procedural Aspects Involved, and (III) Contemporaneous Legal Issues.

The first a part of the e-book acclimatizes the reader with what constitutes white-collar crimes and touches upon the event of this space of felony regulation. Important laws on this space such because the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, Companies Act, 2013 and so forth are handled. Along with highlighting the precise offences which are current in these statutes, the e-book particulars the particular investigating businesses, courts and different authorities that train jurisdiction and powers beneath the respective statutes.

The authors additionally look at points together with fastening reverse burden of proof on the accused and making bail extra stringent, provisions which are more and more changing into the rule quite than the exception in white-collar crime statutes. A notable latest instance regarding this facet are the amendments to Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 by the Finance Acts of 2018 and 2019, which amendments seem to have been meant to beat the hanging down of Section 45 in Nikesh Tarachand Shah v. Union of India.

The second a part of the e-book provides an outline of the procedural features concerned in felony regulation. Several foundational ideas of basic felony regulation, which apply equally to white-collar crimes as a lot as different crimes, are handled on this half. The clarification of procedural features helps the reader higher recognize the substantive authorized features current within the e-book too.

The third a part of the e-book offers with advanced and nuanced points within the sphere of white-collar crimes. Several up to date and, at occasions, contentious subjects are analysed by the authors, together with cross-border felony investigations, inner investigations by physique corporates and so forth. In the chapter titled ‘Corporate Criminal Liability,’ the authors elaborate on the jurisprudential growth of felony legal responsibility of corporates in different frequent regulation jurisdictions, culminating in a succinct evaluation of landmark instances in India resembling Standard Chartered Bank v. Directorate of Enforcement, Iridium India Telecom v. Motorola Inc, and Sunil Bharti Mittal v. CBI.

The part coping with contemporaneous authorized points is especially related with respect to white-collar crime regulation in at present’s time, contemplating that there’s vital ambiguity on the scope and extent of a few of the authorized provisions current within the statutes, given the shortage of judicial steering and the frequent amendments made to those statutes.

Overall, the style wherein the authors convey collectively a variety of subjects that span throughout a number of legislations beneath one e-book is commendable and makes for an enticing learn. It is a useful supply of authorized reference for college students and attorneys within the sphere of white-collar crime regulation in India.

The authors of the e-book are Susannah Naushad and Mohammad Raiz, dispute decision attorneys specializing in white collar crimes.