It is indeed a privilege to be part of the Inaugural Function of this National. Conference on Economic Offences : Emerging Dynamics & Dimensions,

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1 National Conference on Economic Offences: Emerging Dynamics & Dimensions Inaugural Function Presidential Address 16 th February, 2019 TNSJA Regional Centre, Coimbatore Hon ble Justice Indira Banerjee, Judge, Supreme Court of India, Brother Dr. Justice Vineet Kothari, Brother Justice S. Manikumar, Brother Justice T.S. Sivagnanam, My Colleagues from the Madras High Court, Brother & Sister Judges of various other High Courts, Additional Advocate General Mr. Arvindh Pandian, Distinguished Guests off the dais, Judicial Officers, Other Officials, Resource Persons, Ladies & Gentlemen, It is indeed a privilege to be part of the Inaugural Function of this National Conference on Economic Offences : Emerging Dynamics & Dimensions, being organized by the High Court of Madras and the Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy at the Coimbatore Regional Centre of TNSJA. We are delighted to have amidst us, Hon ble Ms. Justice Indira Banerjee, Judge, Supreme Court of India, who has taken time off amidst her busy schedule and consented to be here with us to inaugurate the Conference and also to chair a session on this opening day and enlighten the participants with her words of wisdom. Page 1

2 We are also happy to have with us Hon ble Judges from various High Courts across the country who have shown keen interest in participating in this conference and sharing their valuable expertise on the subject. Continuing judicial education is an indispensable tool for ensuring an effective, independent and credible judiciary, whose members have to be looked upto as men and women with proven competence, integrity and probity. The role of judges and judicial officers is ever changing and, like other professions, must be supported by continuing training programs providing targeted learning. These programs help to improve the quality of performance and enable the participating judges and judicial officers to fine-tune their skills and render justice faster. Laws undergo constant change, well-nigh become outdated with the passage of time and need refinement, updating and/or replacement from time to time. Those entrusted with the responsibility of interpreting the laws also need regular updating of their skills to keep pace with emerging laws, changes in society, innovations in science and technology and so on. Hence, the need for continuing education for different stakeholders of the justice administration system becomes inevitable. On the many benefits of training, I am reminded of the following Chinese proverb Tell me, and I forget, Show me, and I remember, Involve me, and I understand. Page 2

3 The National Judicial Academy at the Centre and Judicial Academies in States are doing a stellar job in imparting training to the members of Indian Judicial Service. Ever since its inception in the year 2001, the Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy has been a valuable addition to the judicial set up of this State, performing its role of providing legal education to judicial officers and other stakeholders from the State and various parts of the country. Regional Centres like this one at Coimbatore and the one at Madurai have ensured that judicial officers, as far as practicable, can stay close to their headquarters, yet at the same time update and fine-tune their knowledge database with valuable inputs at conferences and workshops such as this. Economic offences represents the most dangerous form of criminal behavior eating into the economic fabric of our society. Being the result of rapid industrialization and urbanization, economic offences are perceived to have given rise to a parallel economy and hence, are a great threat to the country. These offences not only affect the individual members of the society, but also have a deleterious effect on the material welfare of the community. It would be a cliché to suggest that the world is shrinking; it is now characterized by unprecedented mobility of information, finance, goods and services, people, even viruses the microbial variety as well as those which infect one's computer. Globalization of finance, where electronically mediated Page 3

4 exchanges occur in nanoseconds, is far removed from the archaic periods, where deals were sealed with a handshake, and a man's word was his bond. However, with such proliferation comes the greater threat of opportunities for betrayal of trust and economic offences. Economic offences are committed by unscrupulous persons during the course of their legitimate and illegitimate business activities; also by members of the underworld who undertake to provide prohibited goods and services in violations of the legal provisions; by dishonest professionals while engaging in their professional activities; by corrupt and greedy public servants while performing their official duties and exercising the powers vested in them. The sole objective of economic offenders is success and material advancement, and in their pursuit to achieve it, they do not hesitate to adopt unethical conduct, thereby bringing uncalled for destruction to the economic setup of the society. Often, the subtlety with which these offenders commit their misdeeds leaves the victim unaware of the offence perpetrated against him. Some of these offences have a direct bearing on the economic order and development of the country and endanger its economic stability. Commenting on the seriousness of these offences, Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer had long ago observed, These offences often are subtle murders practiced on the community of sabotage of the national economy. They have to be tackled with a new seriousness. Page 4

5 The following are some of the instances of economic offences Smuggling Extortion Money Laundering Counterfeiting of Currency Tax Evasion Evasion of (Excise) Duty Corruption and Bribery Hoarding & Black Marketing Telemarketing Bank Frauds involving Cheques, Credit/Debit Cards, Electronic Frauds etc. Real Estate Frauds Stock Market Frauds Insurance Frauds Cheating / Forgery Company Offences The above list is only illustrative. With technological advancements and the ever expanding horizon of internet, there are bound to be newer and more hybrid forms of economic offences and law enforcement agencies in future are going to face tougher times in grappling with such offences. There is generally no accepted definition of the term economic crime and no distinct body of literature on the theory and practice of economic crimes. Unlike conventional crimes, economic offences cannot be countered by employing the age old strategies, and they call for extraordinary laws. The gravity of these offences has urged the respective Governments to appoint various Committees, and the matter has also been debated and analyzed by the Law Commission of India and various other Committees, dating back from 1964, and various remedial measures have been suggested. Page 5

6 Economic offenders use specialized techniques for committing the crimes. In order to deal with such specialized crimes, it is imperative to impart specialized training to all those who are dealing with the subject, so as to effectively deal with these offenders and the offences perpetrated by them. This two day National Conference is aimed at analyzing, introspecting and finding out ways and means and to devise mechanisms on how to go about dealing with these offences, especially keeping in mind the diversified area of these offences and the dearth of quality literature in this behalf. I am sure the discussions and deliberations that take place in this event would go a long way in aiding Judges and judicial officers to tackle the serious menace in an effective manner, and the outcome of this exercise would certainly serve as a roadmap for the future, as these category of offences are only likely to increase and assume sophisticated proportions in the years to come. I thank the Board of Governors of the Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy for having given me this opportunity to share a few words at this august gathering. THANK YOU ALL. * * * * * Page 6