India has called upon G20 countries to adopt multilateral action for faster extradition of fugitive economic offenders and recovery of assets both on domestic front as well as from abroad, during the first anti-corruption working group meeting held in Gurugram, on the outskirts of Delhi.

Chairing the meeting with co-chair Italy, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has envisioned developing an administrative system with zero tolerance for corruption for a developed India.   

He said “economic offences have been a problem faced by many, especially when the offenders flee from the jurisdiction of the country. India has put in place specialised legislation in this regard, in the form of Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018, the term wherein ‘fugitive economic offender’ (FEO) is defined as an individual against whom a warrant of arrest in relation to scheduled offence has been issued by any court in India and who has left the country so as to avoid criminal prosecution; or the FEO abroad, refuses to return to face criminal prosecution”.

He also informed that the Enforcement Directorate has transferred assets worth about USD 180 billion to public sector banks that suffered losses to the tune of around USD 272 billion due to frauds committed by high-net-worth individuals.   

“India’s view is that strengthening of mechanisms for speedy confiscation of the proceeds of crime, both at home and abroad, will force the offenders to return to their home country. This will allow for an effective investigation and speedy trial for the related offence and this would also help the banks and other financial institutions and tax authorities to achieve recovery from defaults committed by such FEOs, thus restoring, to some extent the overall health of these banks and other financial institutions, while eliminating the possibility of further misuse of these funds," the minister added. 

Singh said, "Corruption is a complex social, political, and economic challenge affecting all countries and in a globalised world, corruption has ramifications well beyond the G-20."

He said, it adversely impacts the effective utilisation of resources, creates market distortions and adversely impacts the quality of life of citizens, impacting the benefits of globalisation and consequently, economic growth and overall governance and most disproportionately affecting the poor and most marginalised.

He added that for better coordination, streamlining of the judicial processes and timely disposal of cases, there is a requirement for multilateral action rather than bilateral coordination, which proves to be more complex and presents obstacles in making progress on cases related to FEOs and recovery of related assets. 
 

Image source: PIB