INDIA’S PREVENTION OF CORRUPTION ACT IN PROSECUTING WHITE – COLLAR FINANCIAL CRIMES: A LEGISLATIVE CRITIQUE
AUTHOR – TARUN. M, STUDENT AT SCHOOL OF LAW (CHRIST DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY), BANGALORE
BEST CITATION – TARUN. M, INDIA’S PREVENTION OF CORRUPTION ACT IN PROSECUTING WHITE – COLLAR FINANCIAL CRIMES: A LEGISLATIVE CRITIQUE, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (3) OF 2026, PG. 702-721, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.
Abstract:
White-collar offenses against finance have been among the most formidable threats to Indian economic growth and institutional integrity since the early 21st century. These offenses, much more than commonly accepted notions of corruption with black-and-white bribery, frequently utilize technological innovation, regulatory arbitrage, and globalization. Criminals increasingly exploit elaborate structures of corporate intermediaries, off-shore vehicles, and internet systems to hide and divert illegal profits such that conventional enforcement strategies prove ineffective.
The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (PCA), conceived as India’s flagship anti-corruption statute, had been authored in a time when corrupt practices were unambiguous, discernible, and often restricted to transparent transactional connections between public officers and private individuals. Economic liberalization and technological advances having taken place since then, the flaws in the provisions of the PCA – i.e., its antiquated definition, procedural requirements, and standard of proof – have been underscored by today’s white-collar crimes such as recent fiscal scams and institutional malfeasance.
Legislative amendments – primarily, the 2018 amendment – enlarged PCA’s scope to include corporate bodies and attempted to make the legal response current. Even then, though, PCA is seriously failing to achieve accountability for serious complex financial malfeasance. Procedural challenges like a necessity for pre-sanction to prosecute public officials and converging investigative authorities among agencies frequently cause effective prosecution to be untimely. Moreover, ambiguity about corporate liability, reluctance to use asset forfeiture, and low deterrence to high-dollar value financial crimes weaken PCA’s deterrent effect.
This paper utilizes doctrinal analysis, case law, and comparative jurisprudence to assess the effectiveness of the Prevention of Corruption Act in the age of digital information. Through an analysis of legislative design, effects of judicial construction, and enforcement strategies, this paper lays out fundamental weaknesses and recommends holistic changes. These results highlight the imperative that anti-corruption laws within India be reshaped to match international best practices enabled to handle complex realities of economic crime and maintaining economic and institutional confidence.
Keywords: Prevention of Corruption Act, white collar financial crimes, corporate corruption, legislative reforms, forfeiture of assets, judicial commentary.