Friday, January 31, 2025
spot_img

Centre submits 627 names to SC

Date:

Share post:

spot_img
spot_img

Black Money: Apex court sets March 31 deadline for SIT to complete its probe

New Delhi: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government submitted to the Supreme Court on Wednesday a secret list comprising names of Indians having accounts in foreign banks. The Centre handed over the list with 627 names in a sealed cover to the court, which directed the government on Tuesday not to provide a “protective umbrella” to such persons.

Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the government, handed the list in a sealed envelope to the court, which passed it on to a special investigation team (SIT) probing into the illegal funds that tax dodgers have parked overseas. The court set a deadline of March 31 next year for the team to complete its probe and begin legal action.

“The government of India gave the entire list of HSBC accounts. There are about 627 accounts. We gave it in a sealed cover to the court,” Rohatgi told reporters outside the court.

Rohatgi said 627 people named on the list had accounts with a Geneva branch of HSBC, information that was disclosed in 2011 by an employee of the bank and passed to India but not acted on by the previous government.

The apex court, however, did not open the envelope and observed that it be placed before a special investigation team (SIT) probing the black money case.

The government also submitted two other sealed envelopes containing details of various treaties with foreign countries and the probe conducted by its agencies.

Only the SIT chairman and vice-chairman can open the envelopes, the court said, directing the crack team to submit a status report by the end of November.

Pointing out that the SIT will decide what further action is to be taken on the issue, the court set the next date of hearing in the case on December 3.

“The court has directed all documents should be handed over to SIT and they will take appropriate decisions on the matter,” said lawyer Prashant Bhushan.

Commenting on the development, former Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde said, “I don’t think the government had a choice. They had to comply with the court’s order (of submitting a detailed list).”

Taking a strict note of the black money case, the apex court on Tuesday rejected the Centre’s argument that revealing the identity of legal account holders would amount to breach of privacy.

Rohatgi, however, told the court the government was not trying to shield anybody. Finance minister Arun Jaitley too said the government had absolutely no difficulty in giving the list to the court.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi set up the SIT team comprising regulators and ex-judges to identify illicit fund-holders and repatriate money on the first day in office, as part of a wider clampdown on corruption that he promised during his election campaign.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had also accused the previous Congress government of failing to crack down on Indians parking billions of untaxed dollars abroad.

The issue of disclosing the names of foreign bank account holders hogged the political limelight recently, with Jaitley saying the opposition party would be embarrassed if such a revelation was made.

The Congress, on its part, asked the government to come out with complete information without indulging in “selective leaks” and pointed out that “the Congress is not going to be blackmailed under any such threat”.

The Supreme Court’s order to submit all the names came a day after the Centre filed an affidavit disclosed the names of seven individuals and a mining company who have allegedly stashed black money abroad and are facing prosecution for tax evasion under the Income Tax Act.

The much-awaited first list did not include names of any politician. (Agencies)

spot_img
spot_img

Related articles

Meghalaya Cabinet’s nod to apex co-op society for women SHGs

Shillong, Jan 30: Meghalaya cabinet on Thursday gave its approval to open up an apex cooperative society -...

Pro-Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil suspends indefinite hunger strike

Jalna, Jan 30: Pro-Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange-Patil on Thursday suspended his indefinite hunger strike while giving a...

India making tremendous strides in tackling Neglected Tropical Diseases: Health Ministry

New Delhi, Jan 30: India is making tremendous strides in tackling Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD), said the Ministry...

India world’s go-to launch pad: PM Modi

New Delhi, Jan 30: India is becoming the world's go-to launch pad with a record number of foreign...