Karnataka govt issues ordinance for common probe into financial frauds

In order to speed up probes into frauds that financial companies commit by duping investors, the government has promulgated an ordinance that allows law enforcement agencies to club multiple first information reports (FIR) and conduct a common investigation.

The ordinance aims at addressing issues faced by competent authorities when FIRs are registered against a firm or a person in different parts of the state or in multiple police stations.

For this, the ordinance introduces new provisions in the Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments Act, 2004.

Financial frauds under the Act will now be cognizable and non-bailable as per the amendments introduced.

If multiple FIRs are registered, “either in one police station or in various police stations of the district or commissionerate or in various police stations of the state against the same accused person or financial establishment relating to fraudulent default,” then the competent authority may order clubbing of subsequent registered FIRs into the earliest, the ordinance read.

According to sources in the law department, amendment to the parent Act was sought from competent authorities investigating cases of financial fraud in the state.

“In many of these cases, the IMA scam for instance, complaints are registered at multiple police stations. The IMA had FIRs registered against it in multiple districts of the state. As per standard procedure, separate charge sheets had to be filed for each of these FIRs, though the nature of crime was similar, making it a cumbersome process,” a source said.

The amendments, however, will ensure that multiple cases are clubbed into a single charge sheet when the case is tried at the jurisdictional court.

The government had appointed two competent authorities in January earlier this year to probe cases of financial fraud registered against 31 firms.

The ordinance is the result of a Cabinet decision last month to amend the 2004 Act.