Black money abroad plunder of nation: SC

NEW DELHI, JAN 19
The Supreme Court today pulled up the government for witholding information on black money stashed in foreign banks, saying it is not just limited to tax but a “mind boggling crime” amounting to “theft” and “plunder” of national wealth having security ramifications.
“It is a pure and simple theft of national money. We are talking about mind-boggling crime. We are not on the niceties of various treaties,” a bench comprising justices B Sudershan Reddy and S S Nijjar said when the Centre contended that it was case of tax evasion and it cannot make public the names of Indian account holders.
The court made it clear that it was not happy with the government’s approach on the issue. “This is the problem which is worrying us. It is not only about tax evasion and has something more,” the bench said after it was pointed out that the source of these money might be narcotics, terror funds or arms dealing.
It was contended before the court that even the former National Security Advisor M K Narayanan had expressed apprehension that the money stashed in tax havens abroad might have some terror linkage.
The court was hearing a petition filed by noted criminal lawyer Ram Jethmalani, who along with some retired bureaucrats and police officers, approached it seeking directions to the government to take steps to bring black money to the tune of one trillion dollars stashed in foreign bank back to the country.
The bench was not impressed with the submission of Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium who was explaining various steps taken by the government under the Double Taxation Avoidance Act and other treaties with various countries including Germany and Switzerland.
It also disapproved of government filing an affidavit restricting information relating to the money deposited by 26 persons in Liechtenstein Bank in Germany.