Gujarat assembly passes bill to confiscate assets bought through proceeds of crime

Gandhinagar, Aug 23 (PTI) The Gujarat assembly on Friday passed a Bill for confiscating movable and immovable properties accumulated through proceeds of crime.

Under the proposed Act, special courts will be created in consultation with the High Court for the confiscation of properties of criminals and to try cases against them, said Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi while tabling the 'Gujarat Special Courts Bill 2024' in the assembly on the last day of the monsoon session.

The bill was passed through majority vote as the opposition Congress did not support it.

The new legislation will apply to only those accused who were booked for serious offences, which are punishable by more than three years of imprisonment and the value of property obtained by committing the offences is more than Rs 1 crore, Sanghavi informed.

"This Act is for hardened criminals like bootleggers, people involved in anti-national activities, land mafias, drug dealers, gambling den operators and corrupt public servants, including politicians. These criminals accumulate huge amounts of property and use it to expand their criminal activities. These assets help them in continuing their illegal activities even after coming out of jail," said Sanghavi.

"There is an urgent need to set up special courts for expeditious confiscation of such properties identified in connection with a criminal case. A special legislation was needed to constitute special courts to conduct the confiscation proceedings," he said in the House.

Under this Act, separate investigating officers will be appointed to identify and assess the properties, including cash, jewellery, shares, vehicles, houses, shops etc, said Sanghavi.

The law is applicable to any offence registered under Gujarat Prohibition Act, NDPS Act, GST Act, Anti-Corruption Act etc, he added.

"Under Section 15 of the Act, the government can confiscate the property earned from criminal activities and this confiscation shall be completed within six months. Under Section 5, an officer authorized by the government shall be appointed to confiscate the property of the accused in such offences. This officer will be a retired judicial officer of the rank of Additional Sessions Judge," he said.

If the accused is acquitted in the case, he can get back the confiscated property or cash with interest at 5 per cent per annum if the property was sold, said Sanghavi. PTI PJT BNM