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I. Domestic Legislation

1) Prevention of Corruption Act 1988

The Prevention of Corruption Act covers: 

• A public servant taking gratification other than legal remuneration in respect of an official act; 
• Taking gratification, by corrupt or illegal means, in order to influence a public servant;
• Taking gratification for exercise of personal influence with a public servant; 
• Punishment for abetment by a public servant of offences under section 8 or 9; 
• A public servant obtaining a valuable thing, without consideration from a person concerned in a proceeding or business transaction; 
• Criminal Misconduct by a public servant – disproportionate to known source of income etc (unaccounted resources);
• Punishment for Attempt; 
• Practice of laying traps, similar to controlled delivery, to catch accused persons red-handed; 
• Immunity - Sanction for Prosecution – S 19 of PCA and 197 of Code of Criminal Procedure; 
• No specific provision regarding bribery of foreign public officials of public international organizations;and
• Liability of Legal Persons – the Supreme Court has held them liable for prosecution by paying a fine. 

2) Criminal Law Amendment Ordnance 1944

The Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance 1944 was enforced by Police and Courts.

Section 3 - Person committing scheduled offence (Corruption is one of the listed laws in the schedule); attachment of the money or other property.
If such property can't be attached, other property of the said person of values equivalent to that of the money or property. 

3) Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002

The Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 was enforced by the Directorate of Enforcement and FIU –IND.

• AML adopts a Scheduled-Offence approach, which includes the Prevention of Corruption Act;
• Threshold offence of INR 3 Million; and  
• CTR reporting more than INR 1 Million for a single transaction or in a series of connected transactions in a month.  

4) Customs Act 1962

Currency Declaration at Borders (enforced by Customs: Central Board of Excise and Customs)

5) Code of Criminal Procedure

The Code of Criminal Procedure was enforced by the Police.

Section 83 – Attachment of properties of absconders, declared as a proclaimed offender under Section 82. 

6) Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act 1988

Benami (transactions undertaken in the name of another person) transactions have been in existence for some time (at least 200 years) in India. Indian Trusts Act of 1882 (Section 81 and 82) gave legislative recognition to this practice. This legislation is also aimed at curbing fictitious transactions in properties made out of corrupt money, but since the Rules to give effect to the Act have not yet been drafted, this legislation is unenforceable.   

7) Income Tax Act 1961

Properties bought by undervaluation are liable for attachment and forfeiture to the Government of India. 

8) Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) 1999

FEMA was enforced by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which also carries out investigations relating to Money Laundering cases in India. Previously, when the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA), a criminal legislation was in force in India, this agency carried out investigations throughout India, including cases of 'Hawala'. ED is currently investigating a case concerning Iraq's Food-for-Oil Programme. 

II. Bilateral Treaties 

India has so far concluded MLA treaties with 23 countries namely: Switzerland, United Kingdom, Canada, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Turkey, France, Tajikistan, Bahrain, Thailand, USA, South Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Mauritius, Belarus, Spain and Kuwait.

In addition, treaties with three countries, namely: Mexico, Bulgaria and Vietnam have been signed but not ratified.

India is presently negotiating MLA treaties with five countries, namely: Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region in the People's Republic of China), Nepal, Iran, Egypt and Australia.

III. International Treaties

1. UNCAC

Signed on 9 December 2005 but not yet ratified.

2. OECD Anti-Bribery Convention

Not yet signed.

3. Other Treaties/Schemes

Commonwealth Schemes:

• the Harare Scheme on MLA; and
• London Scheme on Extradition (kidnapping of a foreigner not allowed in India).

IV. Legal Issues

• Procedural – No signature of witnesses to be taken on statements recorded by the Police;
• Conviction-based forfeiture;
• Bank Secrecy Laws;
• No Peer Review Process – as in Europe (GRECO), America (Inter-American Convention) and Africa (NEPAD);
• Delay in Trial Process – there are a huge number of cases and documents cited, large number of miscellaneous applications and appeals;
• Confession/admission statements of accused persons, recorded by police during investigation are not admissible as evidence in courts – a major challenge;
• Disproportionate assets cases – there is a valuation problem as property transactions are registered at lower rates than the actual transaction value to evade payment of stamp duty;
• Cash-based economy – there is a large number of cash transactions which deny the prospect of an audit trail;
• Frequent adjournments, examination and cross-examination of a large number of witnesses, domestic and abroad – makes the system expensive and time- consuming, voluminous documents (prosecution has to prove the provenance of every document on which they seek to rely, prove the handwriting and signatures etc.); and
• Translation of documents into foreign languages – cost, time and availability of adequate number of professional translators.