Government readies list of 91 names to bar from leaving the country: report

Before Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi , there was Vijay Mallya, who in turn was preceded by Lalit Modi and Jatin Mehta. But these businessmen-turned-fugitives are just the more famous names to hog the headlines in the past few years. Yesterday, Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar told the Parliament that as many as 31 business people facing a CBI investigation have flown the coop, including long-forgotten names like Pushpesh Kumar Baid, Chetan Jayantilal Sandesara and Ashish Jobanputra.

But it seems the government has finally learnt its lesson and is now considering more proactive vigilance. It has reportedly prepared a list of 91 names it is considering to bar from leaving India due to their involvement with companies branded as wilful defaulters. The latter is an umbrella term used for someone who has not repaid his debt when he can do so or has essentially not used funds for the purpose it had been borrowed for, or has disposed off the assets pledged for a loan without the bank's knowledge.

A source aware of the developments told Bloomberg that the people on the list were selected because of their roles as directors or owners of such companies. Furthermore, the government has asked banks to provide the passport details of a larger group of individuals - those who have stood as guarantors or signed applications for soured loans of over Rs 50 crore. The source added that some of these individuals may also be barred from leaving the country if they are found to have committed fraud or engaged in wilful defaults.

Given that some 400 Indian companies have been classified as wilful defaulters, this is going to be one long list. But a desperately needed one since in the first half of the current fiscal alone, public sector banks wrote off loans worth Rs 516 crore spread across 38 loan accounts of wilful defaulters.

This news comes just days after the government tabled the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill 2018, which seeks to recover dues from absconding fraudsters and loan defaulters with an outstanding debt of Rs 100 crore or more by impounding and selling their assets.

But once a loan defaulter manages to escape, extradition proves next to impossible. Since India has not had a lot of success in that direction in the past, it makes far better sense to close the gates before the horses bolt. The government's recent overdrive in this direction makes more sense when you factor in the general elections coming up next year.