Black Money: List of 627 Foreign Account Holders Given to Supreme Court - NDTV
NEW DELHI: A list of 627 Indians who hold foreign bank accounts in countries like Switzerland has been given in a sealed envelope to the Supreme Court, which yesterday sharply rebuked the government for its handling of attempts to recover untaxed or black money stashed abroad. "We can't leave the issue of bringing back black money to the government. It will never happen during our time," the judges said.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, the government's top lawyer, told NDTV yesterday that he believes the judges will not publicly disclose the names. The previous government headed by Dr Manmohan Singh and the new one have both argued in court that tax treaties with other countries prohibit the disclosure of names till charges are framed against the alleged offenders.
Critics of that stand, including noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani, have dismissed that as a cop-out. It is on the basis of Mr Jethmalani's petition in 2009 that the Supreme Court is monitoring the black money investigation. It has also appointed a team of former judges and regulators -a Special Investigating Team - to map how to recover untaxed income hidden abroad.
The government says that the list given today includes some who may have legitimate accounts in banks like HSBC in Geneva. Sources say that the Special Investigating Team has allegedly shortlisted 200 account holders for scrutiny and will submit a report on them to the court at the end of this month.
Along with the list of account holders, the government has reportedly submitted communication with French officials, as well as a status report on its investigation so far. In 2011, it was France which purveyed a list of Indians who have bank accounts at HSBC in Geneva - the data was provided by a bank employee who turned whistle-blower.
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