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B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 10 White Collar Crimes 2017 Jun Question Paper with Solutions - KSLU

KSLU Solved Question Papers

White Collar Crimes

Previous Year Question Paper with Solution

B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 10

2017 Jun Examination

munotes.in

Mumbai

First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.

Published by munotes.in, Mumbai.

Model answers written and edited by the munotes.in editorial desk.

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The Paper as Set

The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2017 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

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Read the original question paper

Q1Define White Collar Crime and briefly discuss white collar crimes in India.[16]

Answer

For full marks, cover: the definition (Sutherland, 1939 and 1949; its four elements; the Indian terms socio-economic offence and privileged class deviance); how India came to recognise it (the Santhanam Committee, 1964; the Law Commission's 29th and 47th Reports; the N.N. Vohra Committee, 1993); white collar crime in India, sector by sector, each with a decided case: public office (K. Veeraswami), banking (Ramesh Gelli), companies and foreign exchange (Standard Chartered), securities and public money (Sahara), black money and laundering (R.K. Garg, Vijay Madanlal Choudhary), natural resources and licences (Sanjay Chandra), food and drugs (Swami Achyutanand Tirth, Union of India v. Ashok Kumar Sharma), professions (Shambhu Ram Yadav, Jacob Mathew), land of the weak (Manchegowda), cyber space (Sharat Babu Digumarti), politics (Sita Soren); the Indian response (laws and agencies); its distinctive Indian features; a short assessment.

Definition

Edwin H. Sutherland introduced the idea in his presidential address to the American Sociological Society in 1939, and developed it in White Collar Crime (1949). He defined white collar crime as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation". Its four elements are:

a legally punishable act;
committed by a person;
of respectability and high social status;
in the course of his occupation.

Indian law prefers the wider term socio-economic offences, crimes that harm the economy, public health or social welfare. Indian criminology also uses privileged class deviance, deviance by those who hold power, including officials and politicians.

How India came to recognise it

The Santhanam Committee (1964) on prevention of corruption found corruption widespread in public life. It led to the Central Vigilance Commission, and to the offence of possessing disproportionate assets, added to the corruption law in 1964.

The Law Commission's 29th Report (1966) considered adding a chapter on social and economic offences to the Penal Code.
The Law Commission's 47th Report (1972) recommended dispensing with mens rea, shifting the burden of proof and raising punishments for such offences.
The N.N. Vohra Committee (1993) described a nexus between criminal syndicates, politicians and officials.

White collar crime in India, sector by sector

1. Public office. Bribery, misappropriation and disproportionate assets are the commonest form. In K. Veeraswami v. Union of India, (1991) 3 SCR 189, even a former Chief Justice of a High Court was prosecuted for disproportionate assets. The Court held a superior court judge to be a public servant under the corruption law.

2. Banking. Loan frauds and collusion between bank officers and borrowers. In Central Bureau of Investigation, Bank Securities and Fraud Cell v. Ramesh Gelli, decided on 23 February 2016, officers of a private bank were held to be public servants for the corruption law, opening the way to prosecute them.

3. Companies and foreign exchange. Corporate fraud and foreign exchange violations. In Standard Chartered Bank v. Directorate of Enforcement, (2005) 4 SCC 530, a Constitution Bench held by majority that a company can be prosecuted under the foreign exchange law even where imprisonment is mandatory, and fined.

4. Securities and public money. Raising money from the public while evading regulation. In Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd. v. Securities and Exchange Board of India, decided on 31 August 2012, two group companies had raised over Rs 24,000 crore from millions of investors through debentures labelled a private placement. The Supreme Court held that an offer to fifty or more persons is a public issue, within SEBI's powers, and upheld the refund direction.

5. Black money and laundering. Tax evasion and the cleaning of illegal money. In R.K. Garg v. Union of India, (1981) 4 SCC 675, the Court upheld an amnesty scheme of Special Bearer Bonds for black money. In Vijay Madanlal Choudhary v. Union of India, (2023) 12 SCC 1, it upheld the Prevention of Money-laundering Act's powers of attachment, arrest and presumption.

6. Natural resources and licences. The allocation of scarce public resources for private gain. In Sanjay Chandra v. Central Bureau of Investigation, (2012) 1 SCC 40, accused in the 2G spectrum prosecution, charged with cheating, conspiracy and corruption, were granted bail after long custody. The Court held that detention before trial cannot be punishment.

7. Food and drugs. Adulteration endangers public health. In Swami Achyutanand Tirth v. Union of India, (2016) 9 SCC 699, milk was found adulterated with urea, detergent and caustic soda in several States. The Court ordered testing and enforcement. In Union of India v. Ashok Kumar Sharma, decided on 28 August 2020, the Court held that drug offences under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act are prosecuted by Drugs Inspectors, not the police.

8. Professions. Deviance by lawyers and doctors. In Shambhu Ram Yadav v. Hanuman Das Khatry, (2001) 6 SCC 1, an advocate asked his client for money to influence a judge. The Supreme Court restored his removal from the roll. In Jacob Mathew v. State of Punjab, AIR 2005 SC 3180, the Court held that doctors are criminally liable for gross negligence.

9. Land of the weak. Grabbing land granted to Scheduled Castes and Tribes. In Manchegowda v. State of Karnataka, (1984) 3 SCC 301, the Court upheld a Karnataka law voiding transfers of such land and restoring it to the original grantees.

10. Cyber space. Online fraud, data theft and obscenity. In Sharat Babu Digumarti v. Government of NCT of Delhi, (2017) 2 SCC 18, the Court held that the Information Technology Act 2000 is a special law with an overriding effect. Where it covers the act, it governs the prosecution.

11. Politics. Bribery in the legislature and the criminalisation of politics. In Sita Soren v. Union of India, decided on 4 March 2024, a seven-judge Bench held that legislators cannot claim immunity for taking bribes.

The Indian response

Laws. The Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, PMLA 2002, FEMA 1999 and the Benami Transactions Act 1988. The Companies Act 2013, the SEBI Act 1992 and the Essential Commodities Act 1955. The Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 and the Information Technology Act 2000 complete the list.

Agencies. The CBI, the Enforcement Directorate, the Central Vigilance Commission, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office, SEBI, the Lokpal and the State Lokayuktas.

Its distinctive Indian features

The nexus. Business, politics, bureaucracy and crime support one another, as the Vohra Committee found.
Scale. Frauds run into thousands of crores, as Sahara shows.
Delay and impunity. Trials take a decade, and few cases end in conviction.
Harm to the poor. Adulteration, land-grabbing and scams fall hardest on those least able to bear them.

Causes peculiar to India

Several features of Indian life feed this crime. For decades, licences, quotas and permits gave officials discretion worth buying, and the habit survived liberalisation. A large cash economy makes money easy to hide and launder. Elections are costly, and party funds are raised quietly from business. Regulators are understaffed, and the same offender may face the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate and SEBI, each moving at its own pace. Finally, social respect for wealth means that a rich offender is rarely shunned.

Assessment

White collar crime in India is no longer treated as mere regulatory breach. The courts have reached judges, private bankers, companies and legislators. But enforcement remains slow, fragmented among many agencies and vulnerable to political pressure.

Conclusion. White collar crime, in Sutherland's definition, is crime by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation. India recognised it through the Santhanam Committee, the Law Commission's 29th and 47th Reports and the Vohra Committee. It appears in public office (Veeraswami), banking (Ramesh Gelli), companies (Standard Chartered) and securities (Sahara). Black money (R.K. Garg, Vijay Madanlal), resources (Sanjay Chandra) and food (Swami Achyutanand) are further fields. It is also found in the professions (Shambhu Ram Yadav), land, cyber space and politics (Sita Soren). Strong laws exist, but enforcement must be faster and more independent.

B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 10 White Collar Crimes 2017 Jun Question Paper with Solutions

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