Find sources of black money, SC tells govt
PTI
NEW DELHI, JAN 27
Expressing concern that the black money stashed in banks abroad might have originated from arms deals, drug trafficking and smuggling, the Supreme Court today asked the government as to what action it had taken against individuals and firms having foreign accounts.
A bench headed by Justice B Sudarshan Reddy directed the government to file its response by Thursday next.
The court also sought replies from the government, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) on a petition seeking direction to the government to ratify the United Nations convention on corruption which would facilitate it in bringing back black money from foreign banks.
Asking the government not to restrict its probe only to the tax evasion aspect, the bench told the government to go after the sources of black money.
“We want to know what steps you have taken against the people who have accumulated so much money in foreign banks. What are the sources of the money,” the bench asked.
“These are people in the country who are amenable to the law. What action have you taken against them when you came to know that they have stashed money in foreign banks?
“What are the sources of the money? Where has the money come from? It might be because of arms deals, smuggling, narcotics, drug trafficking or something else. These are more serious issues, when you know the name, what action you have taken?,” the bench asked.
Senior Advocate Anil Divan, appearing for petitioner and former Union Law Minister Ram Jethmalani, accused the government of not being serious on the issue, saying that Pune-based businessman Hasan Ali, facing a probe for stashing money to the tune of Rs 36,000 crore in UBS Bank in Swiss bank, has fled the country.
The court, after hearing Divan, asked the government to find out whether Ali is present in the country or has left it.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Jethmalani seeking direction to the government to bring back black money stashed in foreign banks which, according to him, amounted to around USD one trillion.
Besides Jethmalani, five others, including former Punjab Director General of Police K P S Gill and former Secretary General of Lok Sabha Subhash Kashyap who are petitioners, have alleged that the government was not taking action to bring the back black money stashed in foreign banks.
Non-governmental organization People’s Political Front and former top cop Julio F Riberio are also among the petitioners.
Countering the allegation of the petitioners, the government submitted that it is holding discussions with
various countries so that information regarding black money could be easily accessed.
“We are aware that black money is a problem for the country and we are dealing with it. We have a DTAA (Double Taxation Avoidance Act ) with 79 countries and we have finalised a revised agreement with other countries including Switzerland,” the solicitor general said adding that the government has been able to check the flow of around Rs 34,000 crore out of the
country.
A former Income Tax Commissioner K V M Pai also approached the court seeking to assist it in dealing with black money.
The apex court had on January 19, while hearing the matter, expressed displeasure over the government’s reluctance in coming forward with full information on the black money issue, saying keeping national wealth abroad amounted to “plunder” of the country.
“It is a pure and simple theft of the national money. We are talking about mind-boggling crime. We are not on the niceties of various treaties,” the court had remarked.
The remark by the bench had been made when the solicitor general was explaining various steps taken by the government under the DTAA.
The court had expressed unhappiness that the government had filed an affidavit restricting information
relating to the money deposited by 26 persons in LGT Bank in Liechtenstein.
