India's CFT - Programme Implimentation
India's CFT (Counter-Terrorism Financing) program implementation involves robust AML/CFT/CPF programs, internal policies and procedures followed by cooperation with international bodies to combat illicit financial flows and implement targeted financial sanctions. It also includes programes against organised financial crimes
The legal framework covers among others the following:
- The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967
- The Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974
- The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988
PMLA 2002
Weapons of Mass Destruction and Their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005
National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act 2008
Sector-specific AML Guidelines Issued by Competent Authorities such as the Directorate General of India-Indirect Taxes and Customs
- The Indian Penal Code, 1860 replaced with Bharathiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 replaced with Bharathiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023
The 26/11 attacks 2008 & investigations
On November 26, 2008, a series of
coordinated terrorist attacks targeted several locations in Mumbai, including
hotels, a railway station, and a hospital, resulting in the deaths of 166
people. Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist from the 26/11
Mumbai attacks, was apprehended, convicted, and executed for his role in the
2008 Mumbai terror attacks, which resulted in 166 deaths. He was
sentenced to death and the sentence was upheld by the Bombay High Court and the
Supreme Court of India. Kasab was executed by hanging on November 21, 2012.
The deputy head of terror organisation
Lashkar-e-Taiba, Abdul Rehman Makki, was
blacklisted as a global terrorist by the United Nations on Monday (Jan 20, 2023) after China withdrew its hold on a
joint bid by India and the U.S. for the listing of Pakistan-based terrorists. The
68-year-old, who is the brother-in-law of LeT chief and Mumbai 26/11 attacks
mastermind Hafiz Saeed, was added to the sanctions list of the UN Security
Council’s ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee — more commonly known
as the UNSC 1267 Committee — for his involvement in “raising funds, recruiting
and radicalising youth to violence and planning attacks in India”. As a result
of this designation, Abdul Rehman Makki will be subjected to a travel ban, an
assets freeze and an arms embargo.
Authorities
in India have been waiting to begin proceedings against Tahawwur Rana for more than a
decade — the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2011 filed a chargesheet
against Rana and eight other persons accused in the horrific Mumbai terror
attack of 2008
In
2011, the US District Court in Chicago convicted Rana of conspiracy to provide
“material support” to Lashkar-e-Taiba, the terrorist organisation behind the
26/11 attacks, between 2005 and 2009, and of supporting a plan to murder the
employees of a Danish newspaper which was never executed. But Rana was
acquitted on the charge of provisioning material support to the LeT in
connection with the Mumbai attacks.
The District Judge, granted the
extradition of Tahawwur Hussain Rana request on May 16, 2023. It ruled that the
word “offence” in Article 6 refers to the definition of the crime itself and
that the “charged Indian offenses contain different elements from the crimes
adjudicated in the Northern District of Illinois”.
This ruling was upheld by the US
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on August 15, 2024, and again by the
Supreme Court on January 21, 2025.
Administrative support
Financial sanctions against entities named by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for their links to terrorism and terror financing should be imposed "without delay" and within 24 hours under the UAPA and a law against use of weapons of mass destruction, the government has directed regulatory and probe agencies[Nov 28, 2023].
The Financial Intelligence Unit
(FIU), the federal agency tasked to detect money laundering and black money in
the country's economic channels, has been made the nodal agency for
identifying, notifying and initiating legal action against such entities under
section 12A of The Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems
(Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005, also known as the WMD Act.
India, as per official records,
enacted the law as per its commitment to the country specific efforts under
UNSC resolution 1718 (2006) and 2231 (2015), and their successor resolutions,
as mandated under section 2 of United Nations (Security Council) Act, 1947.
The Department of Revenue (DoR)
under the Union finance ministry issued a directive to the country's
regulatory, investigative, intelligence gathering and state police agencies
last month explaining the procedure for the implementation of the 2005 law that
aims to prohibit the proliferation of "weapons of mass destruction",
which stands for any biological, chemical or nuclear weapons. The law is a tool
to affirm India's commitment to prevent a non-state actor and a terrorist from
acquiring weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems.
The DoR communication, says that "orders have been issued under section 51A
of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) of 1967 and under Section 12A of
the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of
Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005 by government implementing targeted financial
sanctions related to terrorism and terror financing as well as proliferation
financing against persons and entities designated by United Nations Security
Council Resolutions and the list of such designated entities is communicated by
MEA (ministry of external affairs) from time to time..."
"In order to ensure that the sanctions are effective and the designated
individuals or entities are not able to divert or utilise the targeted funds
and assets, it is important that the sanctions are imposed without delay as
required in different international conventions.
FATF Mutual Evaluation Oct 2023
A joint FATF-APG-EAG assessment of the country’s measures to tackle illicit Finance conduced in Oct 2023 concluded in Sept 2024 that India has implemented an anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) framework that is achieving good results, including on risk understanding, access to beneficial ownership information and depriving criminals of their assets. Authorities make good use of financial intelligence and co-operate effectively, both domestically and internationally.
India & International cooperation
On 29 October 2022, India contributed USD
5,00,000 to the Counter Terrorism Trust Fund of United Nations. India’s
contribution will support United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT)’s
global programs – mainly Countering Financing of Terrorism (CFT) and Countering
Terrorist Travel Programme (CTTP). They are aimed at building capacities of the
Members States of Eastern and Southern Africa to combat the critical issues of
financing of terrorism and prevent the movement and travel of terrorists. Furthermore,
addressing the issue of the growing threat of terrorism in Africa has been one
of the counter terrorism priorities of India, since the past few years. Since
2018, India has also been actively supporting programs aimed at combating this
threat. With its current contribution, India's cumulative financial support to
the UN Counter-Terrorism Trust Fund (CTTF) now stands at $2.55 million.
India places great significance on the mandate
and the work undertaken by the UNOCT in building the capacity of member states
to effectively deal with the threat of terrorism. The latest contribution
reaffirms India’s unwavering commitment to support multilateral efforts led by
the United Nations in the global fight against the scourge of terrorism.
Direct Action after Pahalgam attack April22, 2025
The strike on May 7, 2025
destroyed nine high-value terror launchpads across Pakistan and
Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).
The targets belonged to
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), and Hizbul Mujahideen. The
locations were identified as key training and operational centres for planning
attacks against India.
India did not target Pakistani
military or civilian structures and tried its best to avoid collateral damage.
However, the Pakistani military escalated the situation by attacking civilian
areas in India with drones.
Following the relentless
attacks, a decision was taken to strike where it would hurt.
"And towards that, in a
swift, coordinated, calibrated attack, we struck air bases, command centres, military
infrastructure, air defence systems across the entire western front," DG
Air Operations Air Marshal AK Bharti told reporters on Sunday.
"We sent a clear message
that aggression will not be tolerated. This was followed by strikes at
Sargodha, Barari, Jacobabad," he said.
Any future act of terror by
Pakistan will be considered an act of war, and India will respond accordingly,
sources have said.
The role of the Pakistani army
in supporting terrorists to launch attacks against India became even more evident
on May 7 when they stood up in defence of terror infrastructure hit by the
Indian missiles as part of Operation Sindoor.
Indian military and
intelligence sources pointed to irrefutable evidence that elements within the
Pakistan Army, particularly those connected to the Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI), were providing logistical support, safe havens, training, and financial
backing to terrorist groups operating in PoJK. The proximity of some of the
terrorist camps to known military installations and cantonments reinforced
suspicions that they were being deliberately shielded, sources said.
Indirect Action
As part of its escalatory matrix against Pakistan for the
terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, India is considering specific moves
aimed at curbing financial flows that aid the neighbour fund terror activities.
The first is to make a concerted effort to try and bring back Pakistan into the ‘grey list’ of Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global money laundering and terror financing watchdog.
Pakistan was put in the ‘grey list’ in June 2018, and faced
“increased monitoring” till it was removed in October 2022. Being in this list
adversely impacts FDI and capital flows as businesses have to undertake
enhanced due diligence. Government officials said this had helped curtail
illicit fund flows from Pakistan into India, especially into J&K.
The second is to raise objections to the
International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) continued financing of a $7-billion aid
package that commenced July 2024, citing diversion of funds by Pakistan for
nefarious activities and terror attacks, people in the know said.
Next, New Delhi stepped up efforts to designate The
Resistance Front, an LeT proxy, as a UN-listed terror outfit
An Indian technical team, which is in New York,
interacted 15/05/2025 (Wednesday) with the Monitoring Team of the 1267
Sanctions Committee and other partner countries in the UN. They also met with
the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) and Counter-Terrorism
Committee Executive Directorate (CTED)
Key areas of cooperation include UNOCT-led technical
capacity-building initiatives supported by India, such as cybersecurity,
countering terrorist travel, supporting victims of terrorism, and countering
the financing of terrorism
Happy Reading,
Those who read this, also read:
1. Combating Financing Terrorism
2. Combating Financing Terrorism & United Nations
4. Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-Ind)
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