New Delhi, Dec. 19 :    New Delhi, Dec. 19:  The Enforcement Directorate has issued criminal prosecution notices in a number of cases under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, although Fera has been replaced by the Foreign Exchange Management Act. The new Act came into effect from June 1, 2000. 'A two-year window was created for Fera and all the existing cases will continue to be under Fera,' official sources said. 'Fema effectively comes into force only from May 1, 2002.' The sources said 'a few hundred notices have so far been issued to various parties, individuals and companies' but could not reveal the 'exact' number of notices or cases the directorate has initiated. The arrest of First Global chief S. Sharma for 'custodial interrogation' by directorate officials brought to light the fact that several hundred criminal notices were issued. Sharma, who was picked up on Monday for alleged foreign-exchange violations, was produced before a local court in New Delhi, which ordered his custodial interrogation. The sources said Sharma's arrest was 'due to political reasons' as he is a share-holder and the main source of funds for Tehelka, the news portal which exposed the defence scam. But they pointed out that Fera, like the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, would be kept alive. Under Section 14 of the lapsed Tada, all existing cases have to be tried under the old Act. The most visible example is film star Sanjay Dutt's repeated appearances in Tada special courts in Mumbai. The directorate, say sources, has launched the criminal notices so that all these cases would continue to be heard under the 'draconian' provisions of Fera. However, queries regarding Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav's alleged Fera violations in the fodder scam case did not yield any tangible answers. The Bihar unit of the BJP had claimed there was documentary evidence to prove Fera violations in the case. Although it was expected that the directorate would send notices to Laloo, sources here said the 'so called documents' had to be first 'looked into'. 'But in all the other cases the ED notices issued now will keep Fera alive,' they said, pointing out the irony that the very law sought to be done away with to help India integrate with the global business environment was being 'kept artificially alive...' Sources said the government had replaced Fera as foreign direct and indirect investments were not coming in. 'Realising this, the government replaced the law with Fema to be in tune with the globalisation and the economic liberalisation.' 'The apparent move of the ED seems to be that the directorate should also be kept alive, even if Fema comes to operate effectively from May 2002,' the sources said. With the death of Fera, the directorate, too, would have no function and die a natural death. The government has already spoken of 'dismantling' the directorate. Law minister Arun Jaitley had announced that offences under Fema would be 'civil' in nature and that criminal prosecution powers have been done away with in the new Act. RBI move Under the instruction of the Reserve Bank of India, action has been taken against some foreign institutional investors, which bought shares of Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd from Sharma.