Chief Justice of India Surya Kant highlighted the alarming scale of global money laundering, noting that the illicit wealth moved around the world in a year is enough to buy a modest laptop for every single person on the planet.
Speaking at the closing session of the 43rd International Symposium on Economic Crime at the University of Cambridge, Justice Kant pointed out that the Indian judiciary has proactively responded to emerging fraudulent schemes, such as digital arrest scams, rather than waiting for Parliament to act, news agency PTI reported.
'Less Than One In 100 Recovered'
Highlighting the enormous scale of global money laundering, the Chief Justice said, "As of today, if the global estimates on money laundering are even roughly right, the world launders enough money in a single year to buy every one of the eight billion people alive on the planet today a modest laptop, and still have some change left."
"And of that immense tide of illicit wealth, by the most generous reckoning, less than one unit in a hundred is ever recovered. If I may present this more simply, for every hundred parts of that wealth, 99 are simply referred to in speeches and reports while only one part is ever actually put right," he added.
India's Multi-Layered Legal Framework
Addressing the domestic landscape, Justice Kant stated that India's response to economic crime is best understood not as a single statute, but as a multi-layered framework built over decades in which laws, institutions, and judicial doctrine each serve distinct roles. In this context, he referred to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, and the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018.
He said, "I must note that these are not infallible mechanisms. Numerous individuals have alleged misuse of the PMLA process by investigating authorities, including claims of arrests made without articulated reasons, and of custody extended beyond what the existing facts appear to justify. In each such instance, the judiciary has intervened to rectify the situation."
He cited the Supreme Court's ruling that mandates that grounds for arrest must be provided to the accused in writing rather than merely read aloud. The Chief Justice emphasised that for decades, the Supreme Court has consistently maintained that due process and the presumption of innocence remain the guiding principles of its jurisprudence.
The Chief Justice pointed out that the very nature of illicit wealth and economic crime is that neither respects the sovereignty that protects legal frameworks from foreign interference.
"Let this symposium's answer be that vigilance, cooperation and the rule of law thwart fraudulence in equal and, I hope, escalating measures," he added.
(With Inputs From Agencies)