Practice Area
White Collar Crime
Investigations, anti-corruption compliance and criminal proceedings for companies and individuals.
The Practice
White collar crime covers financial and corporate offences such as fraud, cheating, corruption, bribery, money laundering and breach of trust, usually committed in a business setting. The Firm advises companies, including multinational corporations, on their obligations under Indian anti-corruption laws, and represents companies and individuals in investigations and criminal proceedings.
The Firm advises companies, including multinational corporations, on their obligations under Indian anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws, and represents companies and individuals in investigations and criminal proceedings.
How It Works
How the law works
The main statutes include the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, which also makes it an offence for a commercial organisation to give a bribe to a public servant, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, and the offences of cheating, criminal breach of trust and forgery in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. Investigations may be run by the police, the Central Bureau of Investigation or the Directorate of Enforcement, depending on the offence. Procedure is governed by the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, which replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure from 1 July 2024.
A person or company facing an investigation has important choices early on: how to respond to a summons or notice, whether to seek protection from arrest in advance, and whether a complaint can be challenged before the High Court as an abuse of process.
How an engagement runs
- Immediate advice: on summons, notices, searches and questioning, and on preserving documents.
- Investigation: internal investigations for companies and engagement with the agency.
- Court: bail and anticipatory bail, quashing petitions in the High Court, and trial.
- Compliance: anti-bribery policies, due diligence on third parties and training.
Scope of Work
Areas of Advice and Representation
- 01Internal investigations
- 02Responses to allegations of corruption and bribery
- 03Engagement with law enforcement agencies
- 04Anti-corruption and anti-bribery compliance
- 05Criminal proceedings, including bail and quashing petitions
Forums
Courts and Tribunals
- Supreme Court of India
- High Courts
- Trial Courts
Questions
Questions and Answers
- What should I do on receiving a summons or notice from an investigating agency?
- Take legal advice before responding. A summons has legal force, and statements made to an agency can be used later, so how and when to respond should be decided with counsel.
- What is anticipatory bail?
- A direction that a person be released on bail if arrested in connection with a specified accusation, sought before arrest. Courts consider the nature of the allegation, the role of the applicant and the risk of the person absconding or tampering with evidence.
- Can a criminal case be quashed?
- A High Court can quash a complaint or FIR in appropriate cases, for example where the facts disclosed do not make out an offence or the proceeding is an abuse of the court's process, under its inherent powers.
- Can a company be prosecuted for bribery by its employees or agents?
- Under the Prevention of Corruption Act, a commercial organisation can be liable where a person associated with it gives a bribe to obtain or retain business, and its defence is to show it had adequate procedures to prevent it.
- Does a civil dispute become a criminal case?
- Sometimes a commercial dispute is given a criminal colour. Courts have repeatedly held that a mere breach of contract is not a crime unless fraudulent intent from the start is shown.
