The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has decided to fast-track cases filed under the now-repealed Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA), since the individuals under prosecution have either died or gone untraceable, or the assets under question have been liquidated or ceased to exist.
The Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA), an Indian law enacted in 1973 to regulate foreign exchange and securities, was repealed and replaced by the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) of 1999, a civil law which took effect on June 1, 2000, and is a more liberal framework as compared to FERA.
The last show cause notices under the FERA were issued in May 2002.
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. ED aims to complete the exercise in the first quarter of 2026, they said.
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During a recent conference of the agency officers held in Gujarat, ED Director Rahul Navin 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.
In 1956, the central government had 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to handle violations and cases registered under the FERA of 1947 that had been brought in before 1973, which was then repealed and replaced by the FERA of 1973 and subsequently by the FEMA law of 1999 as part of the economic liberalisation policy of India.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), with most violations treated as civil offences as compared to criminal proceedings under the FERA.
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