White-Collar Crime In India: Causes, Impact And Legal Framework
Yuvraj Sawant, LLM, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune
Kaveri Deo (Asst. Prof.), Shri Navalmal Firodia Law College, Pune
ABSTRACT
White-collar crime refers broadly to non-violent or predominantly economic offences committed through legitimate occupational, professional, corporate, financial or commercial activity. In India, such conduct may include fraud, cheating, criminal breach of trust, corruption, securities-market manipulation, insider trading, money-laundering, benami transactions, corporate fraud, tax- related offences and technology-enabled financial deception. Unlike conventional street offences, white-collar crime may be concealed within apparently lawful transactions, complex accounting structures, electronic records and institutional decision-making. Its effects may extend beyond an individual victim to shareholders, depositors, consumers, employees, public institutions and the wider economy.
This seminar paper examines the principal causes and forms of white-collar crime in India, its economic and social impact, and the legal framework used to prevent, investigate and punish it. The study considers the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA), Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002, Companies Act, 2013, Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, SEBI regulations, Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988, Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 and related enactments. The three new criminal laws have operated from 1 July 2024, replacing the principal general criminal laws formerly represented by the IPC, CrPC and Indian Evidence Act.
The paper also discusses selected judicial decisions and institutional responses. The study finds that the Indian framework is deliberately multi-agency and multi-statute because modern economic crime can simultaneously involve criminal liability, regulatory violations, confiscation, attachment, corporate governance and financial-market consequences. Effective enforcement therefore depends not only on severe punishment but also on timely investigation, reliable digital evidence, inter-agency coordination, corporate compliance and protection of legitimate economic activity.
