Laws regulating unconventional crimes in India: Socio economic offences a new Battleground

Socio-economic offences are those that negatively impact society on both a social and economic level. This is mostly due to financial greed. This is sometimes mistaken for other similar offences, however there is a slight distinction between them. It is crucial to understand the concept of socio-economic offences in India as described in the 47th Law Commission Report. The study defines socioeconomic crimes as social offences that harm not only the individual victim but also the community's overall health, morals, social structure, or general well-being. Economic offences are those that impair society's economy and put people's safety in peril. Laws enacted to govern and control socioeconomic crime currently contain elements of a new criminal jurisprudence. This involves reducing or eliminating the requirement to establish intent and considering socioeconomic crimes as having strict responsibility. Also, vicarious criminal liability, which entails a principal's responsibility for the actions of its agents, is coming to light more frequently. The penalties for socioeconomic crimes are also getting harsher; they now come with obligatory minimum sentences, hefty fines, and property seizure. The stigma associated with socioeconomic crime should be increased by raising social awareness about such crime through increased publicity about the trials and convictions of those who have committed it, in addition to providing stronger deterrent elements for such crime through more effective law enforcement, prosecution, and sentencing. The government has occasionally taken several significant steps to address this issue, but more has to be done to regulate completely.