Rules of Application for Declaration of Fugitive Economic Offender Notified [Read Notification]

The Department of Economic Affairs, under the Ministry of Finance recently released a Notification enumerating rules of application for declaring a person as Fugitive Economic Offender, under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance, 2018.

Rule 3 of the Fugitive Economic Offenders (Application for Declaration of Fugitive Economic Offender) Rules, 2018, provides for the manner of forwarding an application for such declaration. According to it, the Director or the authorised officer (any officer not below the rank of Deputy Director authorised by the Director) should prepare an index and material containing:

1. Copy of warrant of arrest in relation to prosecution of a Scheduled Offence against the individual believed to be a fugitive economic offender issued by any Court in India.
2. Statement of reasons to believe that an individual is a fugitive economic offender,
3. A statement on any information available as to the whereabouts of the individual believed to be a fugitive economic offender,
4. Any proof of effort undertaken to bring the individual believed to be a fugitive economic offender back to India,
5. A list of properties or value of such properties believed to be the proceeds of crime, including any such property outside India for which confiscation is sought,
6. A list of properties or benami property owned by the individual believed to be a fugitive economic offender in India or abroad for which confiscation is sought,
7. A copy of a confiscation order issued by the Adjudicating Authority under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988, if any;
8. A list of persons who may have an interest in any of the properties listed above.

The index and material so prepared should be signed on each page and forwarded to the Special Court in a sealed envelope, indicating reference number and date of dispatch. The Directed or the authorised officer is also obligated to maintain registers and other records like acknowledgment slip register, dark register. He should also ensure that necessary entries are made in the register immediately as a copy of the order along with the material are forwarded to the Special Court.