For every Rs 100 laundered, only Re 1 recovered by authorities: CJI Surya Kant

New Delhi, Chief Justice Surya Kant highlighted the staggering scale of global money laundering during his address at the 43rd International Symposium on Economic Crime in Cambridge on Saturday. He revealed that the amount of illicit wealth laundered worldwide in a single year is sufficient to provide a modest laptop to every individual on Earth. The figure underscores the alarming magnitude of economic crime and the urgent need for international collaboration to combat it. According to the chief justice, for every rupee of illicit wealth that is laundered, authorities manage to recover just one paisa. This discrepancy, he explained, stems from the sophisticated methods employed by economic offenders and the limited effectiveness of current mechanisms for tracking and recovering such funds. The CJI emphasized that economic crimes evolve at a speed surpassing even the rate at which nations sign international treaties, making unilateral efforts insufficient to tackle the issue. In his remarks, the chief justice referenced ancient Indian political treatises, particularly Kautilya’s Arthashastra, which warned against officials failing to account for state revenues. He cited this historical insight to underscore the importance of transparency, audits, and the confiscation of illegally acquired assets. The CJI noted that India possesses comprehensive legislation aimed at curbing economic crimes, including measures such as non-conviction-based forfeitures, unexplained wealth orders, and beneficial ownership registers. However, he pointed out that these tools remain underutilized due to a lack of coordinated action across jurisdictions. He stressed that while India has established legal frameworks for international cooperation, such as extradition and mutual legal assistance treaties, the practical outcomes have been disappointing. The CJI mentioned specific cases, including the ongoing attempts to extradite Vijay Mallya from the United Kingdom and Nirav Modi from the United States. Despite initiating procedures in 2017 and 2018 respectively, neither case has resulted in successful extradition, highlighting the challenges faced in enforcing international legal agreements. The CJI called for a more unified approach to tackling economic crime, urging countries to work collaboratively rather than independently. He argued that effective recovery requires prompt action across borders, such as swiftly acting on a forfeiture order issued in one nation and implementing it in another. Additionally, he urged law enforcement agencies to follow up on intelligence tips with tangible results instead of allowing them to languish without action. The chief justice also criticized the tendency for discussions on economic crime to remain confined to speeches and reports, with little real-world impact. He lamented that for every hundred parts of illicit wealth addressed in public discourse, only one part is ever effectively rectified. This gap, he suggested, reflects a broader failure in both governance and international cooperation. The CJI concluded that unless there is a collective commitment to using existing legal instruments in tandem, the fight against economic crime will continue to fall short of its potential.