New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has decided to bring to a conclusion cases registered under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA), which was repealed by the country more than 25 years ago in 1998.
The criminal sections-loaded FERA of 1973 was replaced in June 2000 by the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) of 1999, a civil law.
Officials said that the federal probe agency has begun identifying about 400-500 cases in which adjudication proceedings pending before various courts under the FERA can be fast-tracked for closure, as the individuals under prosecution have either died or gone untraceable, or the assets under question have been liquidated or have ceased to exist.
The officials said the aim is to complete the exercise in the next few months -- the first quarter of 2026 being the immediate deadline.
The last show cause notices under the FERA were issued in May 2002.
ED Director Rahul Navin, during a recent conference of the agency officers held in Gujarat, had also reiterated his directions for "fast-tracking" of old FERA adjudication cases as he emphasised the "completion of lifecycle" of all pending cases in various forums.
The officials said that the closure of FERA cases over the "next few months" will end the legacy of litigation and redundancy going on for more than two decades.
They said that the FERA had an avatar even before 1973 which was first brought in 1947.
The central government had, in 1956, established the ED as an "enforcement unit" under the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) to handle violations and cases registered under the FERA of 1947.
This law was then repealed and replaced by the FERA of 1973 and subsequently by the FEMA law of 1999 as part of the economic liberalisation policy of India.
The FEMA focuses more on the management of foreign exchange rather than its regulation and control (like in FERA).
Most of the violations under the FEMA are treated as civil offences as compared to criminal proceedings under the FERA.