White Collar Crimes are the crimes committed by a person of high social status and respectability during the course of his occupation. It is a crime that is committed by salaried professional workers or persons in business and that usually involves a form of financial theft or fraud. The term “White Collar Crime” was defined by sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939. These crimes are non-violent crimes committed by business people through deceptive activities who are able to access large amounts of money for the purpose of financial gain.
White Collar Crimes are rapidly increasing in our country with the advancement of commerce and technology. The recent developments in the technology have given new dimensions to computer related crimes known as cyber crimes. As such, the white collar crimes are increasing with the development of new websites. The areas affected by these crimes are banking and financial institutions, industry, business etc.
Thus crime is an act or omission which constitutes an offence and is punishable under the law. As the white collar crimes are increasing on daily basis, it injures the society on a large scale because the laws are not properly administered and therefore there is a need to curb the factors that are helping in the commission of such crimes.
It is clear that due to advancement of science and technology newer form of criminality known as white-collar crime has arisen. The term “white-collar crime” has not been defined in the code. But the dimensions of white-collar crime are so wide that after analysing the provisions of Indian Penal Code 1860, we may conclude that certain offence under Indian Penal Code is closely linked with white collar crimes such as bribery, corruption and adulteration of food, forgery etc. The provisions of Indian Penal Code dealing with white-collar crimes should be amended to enhance punishment particularly fine in tune with changed socio-economic conditions. The special Acts dealing with white collar crimes and the provisions of Indian Penal Code should be harmoniously interpreted to control the problem of white-collar crimes.
In simpler words, white collar crimes are the ones which are related to the corporate sectors of a country and are generally committed by the rich classes or the business class of the society.
It is an illegal act done to achieve illegal motive of wrongful gain. White collar crimes are more severe to society than any ordinary crime because in these crimes, financial losses are much higher and the damage is to public morals. It is also known as Socio-economic crimes because it impacts adversely directly on society. They are non – violent crimes and include crimes like wage theft, fraud, insider trading, cybercrime, bribery, forgery, money laundering, infringement of copyrights etc.
White-collar crimes are increasing day by day and there are many reasons behind its growth such as greed, lack of awareness among people, lack of strict rules and laws, lack of accountability, peer support, loopholes of legal structure, technological and industrial development, etc. The advancement of science and technology has created this crime and personal greed has shown a tremendous growth in white collar crimes.
White collar crimes are very harmful for the society. People who should set a moral example and should behave responsibly are the ones who are committing these crimes. Scams and frauds committed not only impacts the investors but it also deeply shakes the root of the economy. Due to these crimes, the society at large as a whole gets affected.
Aishwarya Says:
I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.
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