INDIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Priyank Ladoia, Asif Ahmed, Puneet Dhanoa and Utkarsh Routh, AZB & Partners
1.3 Guidelines for the Interpretation and Enforcement of National Legislation There are no specific guidelines for interpretation or enforcement of the national legislation on anti-corrup - tion. However, Indian courts have interpreted these statutes and have monitored their enforcement on a case-by-case basis. The Supreme Court and various High Courts have been seized of challenges to the constitutionality of certain provisions/amendments to the PCA, and have been called upon to interpret these provisions or to issue guidelines on the timelines and the procedure of trial under such anti-corruption leg - islation/provisions. The Supreme Court has, time and again, reiterated the importance of enforcement of anti-corruption laws and the menace that corruption causes in a society. All cases under the PCA are tried by special judges to fast-track the trial, leading to early disposal of cas - es. The oversight of special judges in the investiga - tion and trial ensures that investigating agencies are kept on their toes when it comes to such cases, and that the cases do not get lost in the barrage of cases pending in Indian courts. The Supreme Court regularly monitors the performance of such courts, and these statistics are uploaded on the National Judicial Data Grid. More importantly, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) supervises corruption cases relating to public servants. In 2024, the CVC released its annual report, which stated that as many as 7,072 corruption cases probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) were pending trials in different courts, with 606 of these having been pending for more than 20 years. The CBI has a CBI Manual, revised in 2020, which lays down the guidelines for the CBI to conduct investiga - tions, and which deals with various issues including taking sanctions under the PCA. The CBI also has a Handbook on Investigation of Anti-Corruption Cases. Pertinently, said CBI Manual and Handbook are not public documents and hence are not available in the public domain. The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions has notified of standard operating proce -
laundering and tax evasion. Any money generated by committing offences under the PCA is considered pro - ceeds of crime under the Prevention of Money Laun - dering Act, 2002 (PMLA), and such offences under the PCA are scheduled offences under the PMLA. Various offences under the PCA have been included as “scheduled offences” under the PMLA, meaning that both a bribe-giver and a bribe recipient will be liable for prosecution under the PCA, as well as for the offence of “money laundering” under the PMLA. In Directorate of Enforcement v Padmanabhan Kishore , reported at 2022 SCC OnLine SC 1490, the Supreme Court held that a bribe-giver is a party connected to the proceeds of crime and would therefore be liable for prosecution under the PMLA. India also enacted the Black Money (Undisclosed For - eign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 (the “Black Money Act”) to deal with undisclosed foreign income and assets. The statute provides pro - cedures for dealing with such income and assets, and for imposition of tax on any undisclosed foreign income and asset held outside India. Another important step in dealing with corruption was the enactment of the Benami Transactions (Pro - hibition) Act, 1988 to deal with transactions in which property is illegally held by one person on behalf of another person. In 2013, India also passed the Lokpal and Lokayuk - tas Act, 2013 (the “Lokpal Act”), establishing the Lok - pal body for the Union and Lokayukta for states, to enquire into allegations of corruption against certain public functionaries, including (among others): • the Prime Minister; • cabinet ministers; • members of parliament; and • Group A officials of the Central Government. A public official (ie, a government servant or employee of any corporation or any other body controlled or owned by the government) is prohibited from accept - ing any foreign contribution under the Foreign Contri - bution (Regulation) Act, 2010.
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