After being cleared by the Lok Sabha without any amendment last week, the Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance (FEOO) bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, which will enable the government to seize assets of fugitives involved in white collar crimes and bring them back to the country to face trial in Indian courts.
Once President Ram Nath Kovind had gives his approval to bring the ordinance into effect, the new law will empower the government to impound assets of alleged offenders Vijay Mallaya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choski, both within India and abroad.
Finance Minister Piyush Goyal in the Rajya Sabha seating said that instances of economic offenders fleeing to another country have been on the rise, and needed to be put an end to as soon as possible, since current laws do not allow the government to deal with the “severity of the problem”.
The external affairs ministry on Wednesday informed members of Parliament that 28 Indians involved in financial fraud cases had absconded from the country between 2015 and 2018. A list compiled by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was presented during the session, which included names of infamous absconders Vijay Mallaya and Nirav Modi, along with Mehul Choski and Lalit Modi.
The bill seeks to target financial renegades who have offences registered in their name exceeding more than ₹100 crore. Justifying the ₹100 crore financial limit required to invoke the new law, Goyal said it was “being done to catch the big offenders and not to clog the courts”. The ED will be the primary investigative agency under the Act, he added.
“This bill is an effective, expeditious and constitutional way to stop these offenders from running away. Legislative changes or a new law must be in place to confiscate the assets of such absconders till they don’t present themselves before the courts. We will also work out what has to be done with the confiscated assets,” Goyal said during the Parliament session.