INDIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Priyank Ladoia, Asif Ahmed, Puneet Dhanoa and Utkarsh Routh, AZB & Partners
AZB & Partners Plot No A-8 Sector-4 Noida 201301 National Capital Region
Delhi India
Tel: + 91 120 417 9999 Fax: + 91 120 417 9900 Email: asif.ahmed@azbpartners.com Web: www.azbpartners.com
1. Legal Framework 1.1 International Conventions Corruption by its very nature is a complex crime. It entails: • giving and accepting bribes; • ingenious ways of providing a promise or gratifica - tion to a party; and • appropriating such bribes or proceeds and laun - dering such proceeds, which may also result in tax evasion or generation of “black money”, and may also be layered in foreign jurisdictions. Owing to the complexity and cross-border implica - tions of corruption, India signed the United Nations Convention against Corruption (the “Convention”) on 9 December 2005 and ratified it on 9 May 2011. The Convention covers: • preventative measures; • criminalisation; • enforcement; • international co-operation; • asset recovery; and • technical assistance/information exchange. The Convention also covers acts of corruption in the private sector. India is a member of the Financial Action Task Force, an international intergovernmental organisation formed on the initiative of the G7, based on mutual evaluation aimed at targeting international money laundering and terrorism funding.
In addition to the foregoing, India is also a signatory to: • the United Nations Convention Against Transna - tional Organized Crime; • the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assis - tance in Tax Matters; and • multiple mutual legal assistance treaties (MLATs), etc. 1.2 National Legislation While the general criminal law in India (the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC)) already accounted for anti- bribery or anti-corruption provisions in its Chapter IX, titled “Of Offences By Or Relating To Public Servants”, this did not deal in detail with the offence of corrup - tion. The IPC has been repealed and replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS). Chapter XII of the BNS deals with offences by or relating to public servants and corresponds to Chapter IX of the IPC. In 1947, India enacted special legislation to deal with corruption more effectively; thus, the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 was passed. This was later repealed and replaced by the Prevention of Corrup - tion Act, 1988 (PCA), which was enacted to consoli - date and amend the laws relating to the prevention of corruption in India. Therefore, the PCA is the principal legislation for anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws in India. The complex nature of corruption and bribery offences could lead to various other offences, such as money
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