Major financial scams, ponzi schemes, cyber crimes, vehicle theft, land grabbing and contract killing will come under the ambit of organised crime in the proposed new criminal law, and if such offences result in the death of any person, the convict will be punishable with death or imprisonment for life.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs headed by BJP MP Brijlal observed that the existing laws were inadequate to tackle many serious offences like organised kidnapping, land grabbing, contract killing, extortion as also many major financial scams and human trafficking, and lauded the proposed punishments as "very effective addition".
According to clause 9 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), unlawful activity, including kidnapping, robbery, vehicle theft, extortion, land grabbing, contract killing, economic offences, cyber crimes having severe consequences, trafficking in people, drugs, illicit goods or services and weapons, human trafficking racket for prostitution or ransom by effort of groups of individuals acting in concert, singly or jointly, either as a member of an organised crime syndicate or on behalf of such syndicate, by use of violence, threat of violence, intimidation, coercion, corruption or related activities or other unlawful means to obtain direct or indirect, material benefit including a financial benefit, shall constitute organised crime.
It also explains that economic offences include criminal breach of trust; forgery, counterfeiting of currency and valuable securities, financial scams, running ponzi schemes, mass marketing fraud or multi-level marketing schemes with a view to defraud the people at large for obtaining monetary benefits or large scale organised betting in any form, offences of money laundering and hawala transactions.
In Section 120A of the Indian Penal Code, there is no explanation about organised crime.
