KSLU Solved Question Papers
White Collar Crimes
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 10
2015 Jun Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 10 White Collar Crimes 2015 Jun Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2015 Jun examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2015 Jun examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 100 · 13 questions answered
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1Define white collar crimes and explain socio-economic offences in India.[16]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the definition of white collar crime (Sutherland, 1939 and 1949: "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation"; its four elements); what socio-economic offences are (the Law Commission's 47th Report of 1972, para 1.8: social offences harm the health or material welfare of the community, economic offences harm the country's economy); their six features (para 1.4: avarice, no emotion, the State or the public as victim, fraud not force, deliberate acts, a two-fold social interest); how they relate to white collar crime (intersecting circles, para 1.9, with the Report's examples); the eight categories (from the 29th Report, para 1.6) and the Indian law on each in a table (FEMA, Customs Act, Income-tax Act 2025, PCA, Essential Commodities Act, Food Safety and Standards Act, Drugs and Cosmetics Act, BNS, PMLA); the special features of these laws (presumed mental state, strict liability, reverse burdens, company liability, publicity, civil penalties, special courts, confiscation); the 47th Report's reforms and what followed (Act 30 of 1974, sections 10B and 10C); Nathulal, Mayer Hans George, Nimmagadda Prasad, Swami Achyutanand Tirth; an assessment.
White collar crime defined
Edwin H. Sutherland introduced the term in his presidential address to the American Sociological Society in 1939. He developed it in his book White Collar Crime (1949). He defined it as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation".
The definition has four elements.
- A crime. The conduct must be punishable by law.
- Respectability. The offender is trusted, such as a businessman, banker, professional or official.
- High social status. His position gives him power and shields him from suspicion.
- In the course of his occupation. The crime is committed through his work, not in his private life.
Sutherland's point was that crime is not only the work of the poor. The respectable offend too, and they cause far greater loss.
What socio-economic offences are
The Law Commission's 47th Report, The Trial and Punishment of Social and Economic Offences, was forwarded on 28 February 1972 under Justice P.B. Gajendragadkar. It gives the working meaning (para 1.8).
- Social offences are offences "which affect the health or material welfare of the community as a whole, and not merely of the individual victim". Adulteration of food and drugs is the clearest example.
- Economic offences are those "which affect the country's economy, and not merely the wealth of an individual victim". Hoarding, smuggling and tax evasion are examples.
Together they are called socio-economic offences. Their most important feature, says the Report (para 1.5), is that they usually have no individual direct victim. They are punished because they harm the whole of society.
Their six features
The Report lists them in para 1.4.
- Motive. The offender acts out of "avarice or rapaciousness", not lust or hate.
- No emotion. Unlike murder or rape, there is no emotional reaction between offender and victim.
- Victim. The victim is usually the State or a section of the public, especially the consuming public.
- Method. The offender works by fraud, not force.
- Intent. The act is usually deliberate and wilful.
- The interest protected has two sides. One is preserving the wealth and health of citizens, national resources and the economic system from exploitation or waste. The other is increasing the nation's wealth by enforcing laws on taxes, foreign exchange, trade and industry.
How they relate to white collar crime
The Report calls the two "intersecting circles" (para 1.9). Many socio-economic offences are white collar crimes, but not all.
- Inside both circles. A drug manufacturer who deliberately supplies sub-standard drugs, or a large company that fraudulently evades tax.
- Socio-economic, but not white collar. A person who smuggles costly television sets for his own use, or a pensioner who files a false income return. Neither crime is connected with an occupation.
- White collar, but not socio-economic. A professional's fraud on one client harms that client, not the economy.
The Report adds a third circle: many socio-economic offences are offences of strict liability, punishable without proof of a guilty mind.
The eight categories and the Indian law on each
The 47th Report adopts the categories drawn up in the Law Commission's 29th Report (para 1.6). Each is now covered by special law.
| Category | Main law today |
|---|---|
| 1. Obstructing economic development (foreign exchange, smuggling) | Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999; Customs Act 1962; Prevention of Money-laundering Act 2002 |
| 2. Evasion of taxes | Income-tax Act 2025, section 478 (wilful evasion) |
| 3. Misuse of position by public servants | Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 |
| Category | Main law today |
|---|---|
| 4. Goods supplied below contract specifications | PCA, BNS section 318 (cheating) |
| 5. Hoarding and black-marketing | Essential Commodities Act 1955 |
| 6. Adulteration of food and drugs | Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, section 59; Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940, section 27; BNS sections 274 to 276 |
| 7. Theft and misappropriation of public property | BNS section 316 (criminal breach of trust); PCA section 13(1)(a) |
| 8. Trafficking in licences and permits | PCA sections 7 to 12 |
Newer forms have since joined the list: bank and securities fraud, cyber fraud and money laundering.
What is special about these laws
Ordinary criminal law needs a guilty mind, puts the whole burden on the prosecution and punishes mainly by prison. Socio-economic laws depart from this in eight ways.
- Presumed mental state. Under section 10C of the Essential Commodities Act, the court presumes the culpable mental state; the accused must prove he had none.
- Strict liability. Some offences need no proof of knowledge at all (Mayer Hans George, below).
- Reverse burdens. Under PCA section 20, once acceptance of an undue advantage is proved, the motive is presumed. Under PMLA section 24, proceeds of crime are presumed to be involved in money laundering.
- Company liability. The company and the officers in charge of its business are both liable.
- Publicity. Under section 10B of the Essential Commodities Act, a court may publish the name and business of a convicted company.
- Civil penalties. FEMA section 13(1) imposes a penalty of up to three times the sum involved, on adjudication rather than trial. Prosecution is kept for serious cases, such as undisclosed foreign assets (section 13(1C)).
- Special courts. PCA cases go to special Judges (section 3).
- Confiscation. The proceeds can be attached and confiscated, as under the PMLA.
The 47th Report's reforms
The Report recommended firmer measures for the major economic Acts.
- The burden of disproving mens rea placed on the accused (para 3.20).
- Minimum imprisonment and minimum fine in Acts such as the Central Excises and Salt Act and the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act.
- Public censure of convicted corporations.
- No probation for adult offenders. The Report proposed limiting the Probation of Offenders Act to those under eighteen. It said the "paramount need for the protection of society" must prevail over rehabilitation (para 10.3).
Parliament acted on part of this. Act 30 of 1974 inserted sections 10B and 10C into the Essential Commodities Act, in force from 22 June 1974.
The courts
Why the law moved. In Nathulal v. State of Madhya Pradesh, AIR 1966 SC 43, a grain dealer stored 885 maunds of wheat without a licence. He had applied for one, paid the fee and filed returns. The Supreme Court held that mens rea is an essential ingredient unless a statute clearly excludes it, and acquitted him. Section 10C was Parliament's answer: the guilty mind is now presumed.
Strict liability. In State of Maharashtra v. Mayer Hans George, AIR 1965 SC 722, a German passenger carried 34 kilograms of hidden gold through Bombay, in transit to Manila. A Reserve Bank notification had been published only days before, and he did not know of it. The majority convicted him under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947. The scheme of the Act left no room for a further mental element.
A class apart. In Nimmagadda Prasad v. Central Bureau of Investigation, (2013) 7 SCC 466, the Supreme Court refused bail in a large economic case. It said economic offences "constitute a class apart". They are committed with deliberate design for personal profit, whatever the cost to the community.
Harm to the public. In Swami Achyutanand Tirth v. Union of India, (2016) 9 SCC 699, a survey had found most milk samples non-conforming, some with detergent. The Court ordered laboratories, sampling drives and committees against adulteration. It also asked for stronger penalties.
An assessment
Strengths. India has a law for each category, special procedures and severe penalties. The courts treat these offences as grave.
Weaknesses. Detection is poor because there is no complaining victim. Many agencies share the work. Trials take years, and offenders can afford the best defence. Reverse burdens also strain the presumption of innocence, so courts insist that the basic facts be proved first.
Conclusion. White collar crime, in Sutherland's words, is "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation". Socio-economic offences are wider and overlap with it. They are offences against the health and welfare of the community or the country's economy, with no single direct victim. The Law Commission's 47th Report (1972) lists their features (avarice, no emotion, the public as victim, fraud not force, deliberate acts). It describes them and white collar crime as intersecting circles. India covers the eight categories with special laws. They include FEMA, the Income-tax Act 2025, the PCA and the Essential Commodities Act. The food and drug laws, the BNS and the PMLA complete the list. These laws use presumed mental states (section 10C), reverse burdens (PCA section 20, PMLA section 24), civil penalties and special courts.
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