Speaking at a workshop on the Prevention of Money Laundering Bill and the Foreign Exchange Management Bill organised by the Merchants Chamber of Commerce here on Friday, Anindya Kumar Mitra, a senior advocate of Calcutta High Court, said the government overstepped the requirement of the United Nations resolutions passed earlier this year requiring all countries to take effective steps to prevent money laundering in "illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances."

The money laundering Bill has included domestic crimes like murder or attempt to murder, waging war and terrorist activity among other offences.

But the non-inclusion of economic crimes under customs and excise laws was being strongly opposed by the Enforcement Directorate, he said.

Mitra was critical of the legislationas it gave the country the unfettered right to attach properties of the accused even in cases where the country was not affected. He felt that in cases where an individual had been wronged by a particular offence, it was the country's duty to distribute the recovery proceeds out of attachment among the rightful owners of the assets in dispute.

Senior Calcutta high court advocate Balai Chandra Roy said the Prevention of Money Laundering Bill was loosely drafted and would lead to protracted litigations and denial of justice to aggrieved parties.